Reputed Israeli Crime Boss Shipped Back to Middle East

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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