Itzhak Abergil, 43, a citizen of Israel,
today pleaded guilty in United States District Court to charges including
racketeering conspiracy to commit extortion and murder and conspiracy to import
ecstasy into the United States. Israel Ozifa, 52, a citizen of Israel, today
pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import ecstasy into the United States. The
guilty pleas were announced today by United States Attorney André Birotte Jr.,
whose office is prosecuting the case.
Abergil and Ozifa were charged in July
2008 in a 77-page federal grand jury indictment in the Central District of
California with federal racketeering charges including conspiracy to import
ecstasy, a popular and powerful “club drug,” into the United States from
Belgium. Agents from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
agency intercepted approximately 100,000 pills of ecstasy at hubs in the
Midwest that were being transshipped for ultimate distribution in Southern
California. The street price for the drugs approached $2 million. At the time
of the shipment, Abergil, Ozifa, and their co-conspirators were under
investigation by Belgian law enforcement authorities. According to the
indictment, Abergil was the leader of the Abergil crime family and used the
power and influence of the Abergil family to conduct criminal activities in
Israel and around the world.
Abergil was also charged with
racketeering conspiracy to extort repayment of usurious loans to individuals in
the United States and with racketeering conspiracy to murder Sami Atias. Atias
was gunned down, execution-style, in August 2003 in Sherman Oaks, California.
Abergil admitted during his guilty plea hearing that Atias was killed for
interfering with a drug deal in which Abergil and others were involved.
Earlier this year, another co-defendant,
Meir Abergil, the brother of Itzhak Abergil, who is 58 and also a citizen of
Israel, was convicted in federal court of one count of extortion for making
threats against individuals in the United States and Israel in an effort to
collect $1,350,000. On August 22, 2011, Meir Abergil was sentenced to 36 months
custody, including time served previously in Israel, and he was subsequently
returned to Israel.
Itzhak Abergil, Ozifa, and Meir Abergil
were all extradited in January 2011 to the United States from Israel. The
January 2011 extradition was the first of its kind under Israel’s racketeering
law, a law that parallels the United States federal racketeering statute known
as the RICO Act, which is designed to combat organized crime.
The investigation was led by the United
States Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Immigration and
Customs Enforcement Agency, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and the United States Internal Revenue Service. The Los Angeles
Police Department provided additional assistance.
Abergil is scheduled to be sentenced
before federal district court Judge Christina A. Snyder on May 21, 2012 at
12:00 p.m., and Ozifa is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Snyder on May
23, 2012 at 12:30 p.m.
Co-defendant Moshe Malul is scheduled
for trial on September 25, 2012 in front of Judge Snyder on charges of
racketeering and murder based on Malul’s alleged hiring of members of the
Vineland Boys street gang to kill Atias in retaliation for Atias stealing
ecstasy that belonged to Malul and others. Co-Defendant Sasson Barashy is
scheduled for trial on November 27, 2012 in front of Federal Judge Synder on
charges of racketeering, extortion, and money laundering.
An indictment only contains allegations
that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be
innocent until proven guilty in court.
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