Reputed Israeli Crime Boss Shipped Back to Middle East

By Ed Scarpo
Meir Abergil is back in Israel.

Reputed organized crime figure Meir Abergil returned to Israel from the United States Thursday after a California court approved a plea agreement setting him free, reports Haaretz Daily Newspaper.

Abergil served about three years in prison in Israel and then the United States, following a U.S. request for extradition. Abergil was charged - along with his brother Yitzhak and three others - with various alleged crimes involving the contract murder of an Israeli drug dealer in Los Angeles; laundering money from the Trade Bank of Israel in the United States; extorting and threatening Israeli business people; and trafficking in the drug Ecstasy.

U.S. authorities reportedly struggled to build a case that would stand up in court against Meir Abergil, who allegedly played a relatively minor role in the apparent crimes. He was allegedly involved mainly in the extortion of Asi Vaknin, the former co-owner of a modeling agency.

Therefore, U.S. authorities were apparently receptive to a plea bargain.

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