A former San Francisco man was extradited from Israel in mid-July to face charges in a fatal hit and run nine years ago in South San Francisco.
Maher Abedelal, 32, is in custody at the Maple Street Correctional Center in Redwood City, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. Abedelal, who was brought back to the United States on July 14, is scheduled to appear in San Mateo County Superior Court for an arraignment on Aug. 17.
Abedelal faces charges of felony hit and run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe confirmed to J. His bail is set at $2 million.
Shortly after midnight on Nov. 11, 2017, 44-year-old Teresa Gonzales of South San Francisco was struck by a driver near the 200 block of El Camino Real. The suspect drove away, according to the South San Francisco Police Department. Officers discovered Gonzales lying in the street and transported her to San Francisco General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police identified Abedelal, a delivery driver at the time, as a suspect after he fled the country shortly after the incident. He remained at large until he was recently located in Israel, according to a police press release.
The FBI, U.S. Justice Department and San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office worked with Israel’s Ministry of Justice and national police to secure Abedelal’s arrest, according to the press release.
Abedelal was previously convicted of felony robbery.
“If convicted of the 2017 hit-and-run, this charge will count as Abedelal’s second strike, and his sentence may be doubled per California’s Three Strikes Law,” Wagstaffe said in an email to J.
Israel has had a reciprocal extradition agreement with the United States since the early 1960s. The two countries’ extradition treaty was updated in 2005 to broaden the category of qualifying offenses to any crime punishable by one year of imprisonment.
This is the fifth known case of extradition from Israel to California in the last seven years.
In July 2019, former Berkeley resident Yaniv Gohar was found in Israel two years after he fled charges of conducting an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to commit money laundering. His brother, Orel Gohar, was still at large at the time of Yaniv’s arrest and guilty plea but was then found and arrested in Israel five months later, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
In January 2020, Dr. David Morrow, a cosmetic surgeon from Coachella Valley in Southern California, was extradited from Israel to serve a 20-year federal prison sentence for insurance fraud. His wife, Linda, was also returned from Israel months prior and charged with participating in Morrow’s scheme according to the Central District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and contempt of court and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison in 2022.