Joseph “Yossi” Ross, the first person to plead guilty in the long-running Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty embezzlement scam, has renegotiated his plea deal in a bid to keep him out of state prison.
Met Council Hasidic Embezzler Gets Better Plea Deal Terms
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Joseph “Yossi” Ross, the first person to plead guilty in the long-running Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty embezzlement scam, has renegotiated his plea deal, the New York Post reported.
Ross, the Met Council’s former insurance broker, pleaded guilty in December 2013 to grand larceny and money laundering in the first degree. He conspired with the Met Council’s former CEO William E. Rapfogel and others to steal at least $9 million from the New York City Jewish community’s anti-poverty agency.
Ross is a leading member of the Breslov hasidic community and one of its most prominent financial supporters.
Rapfogel is a leading figure in the Lower East Side’s Orthodox community. He pleaded guilty after Ross did and is now serving a 3 1/3 to 10 years in a New York State prison.
Ross’s original plea deal mandated that Ross repay more than $1.5 million and serve 18 months in prison.
But Ross’s attorney, Ben Brafman – who is also an Orthodox Jew – was able to renegotiate the deal with New York State’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office, which is prosecution the cases.
Yesterday, Ross was allowed to re-plead to third degree money laundering and larceny. That allows Ross to serve his prison time in a city jail rather than a much harsher state prison.
Ross is due to be sentenced March 9th.
The Met Council never recovered from the Rapfogel scandal and is reportedly in process of liquidating, parceling out its various programs to other nonprofits so it can permanently close its doors, the New York Daily News reported last month.
Related Posts:
All Met Council/Rapfogel/Ross Embezzlement Scam Posts.
[Hat Tip: The Lion.]