Guard charged with smuggling goods for prisoners
Prison employee accused of bringing pornography, food, alcohol, shoes and more for organized crime bosses in exchange for bribes.
Pornography, alcohol, sneakers, and a baguette with kebab – these are a few of the items requested by convicts, including organized crime chiefs, from a prison guard at Eshel Prison who cooperated with them, according to an indictment filed against him on Monday.
The prison guard, Gershon Bar-Ziv, 30, is charged with supplying these "favors" to, among others, Hagai Zagury, the head of a criminal organization in the south serving 15 years for several offenses; Armond Meira, head of a criminal organization in Ashdod sentenced to six years; and Moshe Ben Igvi, convicted for the murder of taxi driver Derek Roth.
According to the indictment, Bar-Ziv smuggled in the goods in exchange for thousands of shekels. The high-level criminals received items such as cell phones, alcoholic beverages, various items of food, pornographic DVDs, and more. The indictment charges Bar-Ziv with conspiracy to commit a crime, taking of bribes by a public employee, fraud, breach of trust, and other offenses.
Indictments were also filed against two of the criminals for their alleged involvement.
The indictments outlined the alleged scheme. Zaguray purportedly paid the guard NIS 1,000 every time he snuck in contraband goods.
In one case, according to the indictment, the guard smuggled in a cell phone, vodka inside a water bottle, and whiskey inside a soft drink bottle. He kept the goods in his locker and waited for the right time when he could transfer it to the convicts.
He allegedly hid a cell phone and charger inside a toilet paper roll. Bar-Ziv supposedly met Moshe Ben Igvy's mother at a restaurant, where she reportedly gave him food, clothes, shoes, CDs, and cash in sums of between 400 and 600 shekels.
The investigation began after the National Unit for Prisons Guards' Investigations was tipped off. Negev District Police arrested an intermediary, who confessed to the charges.
It should be noted that after the guard smuggled a phone for Zaguray, the prisoner's cell was searched and the equipment was confiscated.
