A French court indicted the second suspect Saturday in a 2011 hit-and-run accident that resulted in the death of an Israeli woman in Tel Aviv.
Claude Isaac Khayat, who allegedly sat in the passenger seat during the incident, was charged with failure to render assistance after an accident, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a €75,000 fine, the Maariv daily reported on Sunday.
Eric Roubi, the suspected driver of the black SUV that struck Lee Zeitouni and then drove off, was charged last week with aggravated manslaughter, failure to render assistance and fleeing the scene of an accident.
The maximum penalty for Roubi if convicted is 10 years in prison. He also faces up to a €150,000 fine.
Roubi has admitted that he was the driver, that he panicked after the accident, and that both suspects fled back to their native France, according to the report. He had previously denied responsibility.
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According to a French police account quoted in the report, after the accident Khayat agreed to take blame as the driver in exchange for half a million euros, but the deal ended up falling apart.
Since the 2011 incident, Israeli police believed that Roubi and Khayat were in the car that struck Zeitouni. Israel has requested they be extradited, but the request was denied because under French law French citizens may only be extradited to European Union member states.
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