Ze'ev Rosenstein. Not taking chances with him
Photo: Yehezkel Adiram
Report: Israeli mob boss negotiating plea bargain
Police officials say Justice Ministry believes there is chance under American justice system that Israeli mobster Ze'ev Rosenstein won't be convicted. In order to minimize this risk, preliminary negotiations reportedly initiated with his American lawyer. According to them, if plea bargain goes through, Rosenstein to serve 10-year sentence
The Israeli Ministry of Justice is holding preliminary negotiations with Israeli mob boss Ze'ev Rosenstein's American lawyer in an attempt to draw up a plea bargain for Rosenstein, who was extradited by
Israel to the United States on drug charges.
As part of the plea bargain, Rosenstein is expected to admit to some of the charges brought against him in exchange for a 10-year sentence, according to a report by Israeli police officials Tuesday.
According to the officials, the Justice Ministry realized that there is a chance under the American justice system that the Florida court won't convict Rosenstein. In order to minimize this risk, the ministry decided to initiate preliminary negotiations with Rosenstein's American legal representation.
Rosenstein's trial is slated to begin at the end of January in Miami. If a plea bargain is decided upon, the court process is expected to be shorter.
Rosenstein, 51, was extradited nine months ago to American authorities after an indictment was issued against him in Miami after a police operation revealed that he allegedly headed a drug ring that pushed millions of ecstasy pills from Israel to the United States and Australia, through Europe.
During a court hearing in May, Rosenstein denied the allegations against him.
Last month, a federal judge accepted the submissions of six Israeli detectives, who are expected to testify in Rosenstein's trial, and gave them authorization to appear in court wearing disguises in order to protect their identity. The authorized disguises include wigs, make-up, and fake facial hair.
However, the judge refused the detectives one of their other requests, namely, to identify themselves using their police identification numbers, and not their full names.
The prosecution in Rosenstein's case reported that the request was made in order to allow the detectives to continue their undercover work.
