May 8, 2012 - 19:18 AMT
Israeli crime boss pleads guilty in U.S.

Reputed Israeli crime boss Itzhak Abergil pleaded guilty in a Los Angeles federal court to participating in a large-scale Ecstasy distribution ring, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The members of the ring killed an accomplice in Sherman Oaks, California, nine years ago.

Attorney Mark Werksman told the Associated Press that as part of the plea agreement, Abergil, 43, will serve a 10-year prison term. Sentencing is set for May 21.

Abergil, his brother Meir, and three associates were extradited by Israeli authorities to Los Angeles 16 months ago. They have been held in a federal prison facility since, with the exception of Meir Abergil, who was freed last August and returned to Israel, after serving three years in Israeli and American prisons.

In a 77-page, 32-count indictment, and in subsequent statements, U.S. prosecutors charged that the Abergil brothers and their associates ran one of the largest rings importing narcotics into the United States, working with two other drug syndicates, the Jerusalem Network and another in the San Fernando Valley.