A Jerusalem judge rejects plea deal with former chief rabbi Yona Metzger, handing down a harsher sentence of four and a half years in prison on a slew of bribery and corruption charges.
On January 30, Metzger pleaded guilty to charges involving some NIS 10 million ($2.6 million), based on a plea deal that recommended he be jailed for three and a half years.
But the Jerusalem District Court is now adding another year to his sentence in a rare move for the court.
Former chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger (L) seen leaving the Magistrate’s Court in Rishon Lezion on November 26, 2013. (Yossi Zeliger/FLASH90)
The plea deal came after months of negotiations between Metzger’s attorneys and senior officials in the State Attorney’s Office.
Metzger admitted to fraud, theft, conspiracy, breach of trust, money laundering, tax offenses and accepting bribes. In addition to a prison term, the court will decide how long Metzger will be on probation and will foreclose on an apartment in his name in central Tel Aviv. He was also pay NIS 5 million ($1.3 million) in fines, a court spokesperson said last month.
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