koshernostra

Tel Aviv-born Moshe Matsri, 49, charged in LA federal court on slew of money laundering, drug and extortion charges

ed note–please note the defense offered for “Moshe the Religious’, as he is known amongst his fellow gangsters–

‘a loving husband and father, and a deeply religious and caring man, cooking for his entire synagogue every Friday.’

Whilst flowery, emotionally-laden language is typically used by defense lawyers in trying to get their clients off the hook, despite the fact they themselves know there isn’t a hint of truth to it all, in this case, it is more than likely the case. Judaism has no issues with its adherents engaging in criminal activity, and for the simple reason that all the founding fathers and patriarchs (and indeed, as in the case of Deborah and Esther, some matriarchs) were goombahs themselves. Abraham–at least as he is described in the Torah, the Jews’ ‘holy book’–was a pimp who sold his wife Sarah into prostitution. Isaac, Abraham’s only son, did the same with his wife Rebecca. Jacob engaged in identity fraud to steal his brother’s inheritance. Lott–Abraham’s nephew–sold his 2 virgin daughters into sex slavery.

And it just goes on, and on, and on…

Times of Israel

Los Angeles man who prosecutors say was a leader of an Israeli organized crime ring that moved drugs and money across the globe was sentenced Friday to 32 years in prison.

Moshe Matsri, 49, was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles on a slew of money laundering, drug and extortion charges. Prosecutors recommended he be sentenced to 34 years in prison, while his own attorney argued for a 12-year term.

Prosecutors describe Matsri, also known as “Moshe the Religious,” as a well-known crime figure in the San Fernando Valley with significant ties to the Israel-based Abergil crime family. They say he laundered large amounts of money around the world that helped fuel the international drug trade, and in one instance, negotiated a deal involving “enough cocaine to get the entire city of Dallas high.”

Matsri’s attorney, Dean Steward, said after Friday’s sentencing that he’ll appeal the lengthy prison term. With two years already served following his arrest, Matsri would be nearly 80 years old by the time he gets out of prison, tantamount to a life sentence, Steward told US District Judge S. James Otero.

Steward argued that his client is a loving husband and father, and a deeply religious and caring man, cooking for his entire synagogue every Friday.

“The person that I know and the person that is so deeply involved in his temple is a salvageable person,” Steward said. “This is somebody who, given a chance to have a life, can change the things that he has done.”

Assistant US Attorney Robyn Bacon said Matsri very well may be a good family man, but he was also a major player in the drug trafficking world.

“The sentence should reflect just how serious the crimes these guys were committing were, and how willing Moshe Matsri was to use violence to get what he wanted,” Bacon said.

Matsri was arrested in July 2013, along with several other members of the organization, including a man in Belgium and another in the Netherlands, in a coordinated international investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department. Matsri’s brother was arrested by Israeli authorities, as well, Bacon said.

Prosecutors say Matsri and “a network of trusted individuals” conducted complex, layered transactions to wire money through shell accounts in locations around the world, including Cyprus and Gibraltar.

Bacon said an undercover investigator posing as a drug trafficker was introduced to Matsri as the man “who could 100 percent take care” of all a drug trafficker’s needs in Los Angeles.

Later, prosecutors say Matsri agreed to help two undercover agents posing as a Colombian drug trafficker and a Los Angeles associate transport cocaine from Los Angeles to Utah. He also planned to ship 20 kilograms of cocaine from Panama to Israel, and proposed a deal to buy 100 kilograms of cocaine for sale in New York, prosecutors said.

Among the other men arrested with Matsri, two pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison terms of up to 3 1/2 years. Three more are set for trial in the next year. A sixth, Shay Paniry, of Studio City, was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in prison on drug and money laundering charges.

Matsri was born in Tel Aviv, Israel to parents who had fled Iraq because of religious persecution, according to court documents. Matsri, who served in the Israei military, and his wife moved to the US in 1996. They have five children between 6 and 18 years old.

0 thoughts on “Israeli organized crime figure gets 32 years in US”
  1. Moshe’s poor parents had to flee Iraq back in the 1960’s due to persecution at the hands of the Muslims.
    Then poor Moshe had to, himself, flee Israel for racist America due to Palestinian terror.
    Looking to make his way in this evil land, poor Moshe got caught up with the wrong crowd and was led astray into a life of crime. An all too common occurrence for immigrants facing institutional racism endemic in all strata of American life.
    Despite his occasional lapses of judgment, poor Moshe spent plenty of time at his synagogue and fed many hungry fellow Jews on Friday nights. He was well known at the synagogue for his godly behavior and for his generosity of time and spirit. He was a giver.
    Poor Moshe overcame great trauma and generational racism and now his reward is 30 years in prison?? Is this the way we treat those less fortunate in America? I’m ashamed.
    Moshe should be freed today and reunited with his lovely wife and beautiful children. I hope there’s a Kickstarter fund established for his subsequent release so poor Moshe can get back on his feet on that blessed day.
    Hopefully at some point we reach a day when Jews aren’t treated as third-class citizens here in America. It’s wrong that they’re consistently fighting their way up from the bottom of the heap. All poor Moshe wanted was a hand up and instead he gets slapped in the face by what passes for justice in this dark and blighted land. I hear your wails, Moshe!

  2. kpatrickryan, a comment after my own heart! I’ve been struggling for years to draw attention to the plight of the most oppressed minority, eternally hated for no other reason than being Jews.
    Yes, you are right: nowhere else is the hate more striking than in America, where they have been forced to even form a defense league to protect themselves. Well, two actually, the JDL and the ADL but the former was outlawed! Moshe is clearly a victim but how many voices, except yours and mine, will really rise up in protest? Will this persecution ever end? Will the slaughter of Jews ever end? Or will 6 million of them be sacrificed periodically to satisfy the Jew hatred in Goyim?

  3. Funny thing, the Jewish gangster in the illustration looks like Sean Penn…. I guess there is such a thing as a “Jewish look.”
    Even funnier, years ago I had a friend who adopted a cat which he promptly named “Moritz.” I asked him why “Moritz” and he said “Isn’t it obvious? This cat looks Jewish.”

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