“The court has the authority to review” the plea bargain “and to accept it, which is usually done,” Rubinstein said. “It is also authorized to consider otherwise, and the accused know this.”
At a Tuesday press conference, Maryland state attorney Douglas Gansler called the deal an “insult to justice.”
In an interview later, Gansler said that for Israel, a 24-year sentence is a relatively harsh punishment, but is much less severe than a life sentence without parole, which is what 18-year-old Sheinbein could have faced in Montgomery County.
“He could be walking the streets of Israel at the age of 33,” said Gansler, who was not consulted by Israeli prosecutors before the deal was reached.
Regarding protests from U.S. prosecutors that Sheinbein could be paroled after serving two-thirds of his sentence, Rubinstein said, “The court will consider the criminal act and its nature, not only good behavior, so we don’t know what will happen when Sheinbein seeks early release.”
The plea bargain was a reversal of Sheinbein’s previous plea, entered last month, when he denied premeditated murder but admitted to dismembering and burning Tello’s body.
The plea bargain drew criticism in Israel as well.
Rabbi Michael Melchior, the cabinet member responsible for Israel-diaspora relations, warned the incident casts Israel in a poor light.
He called the plea bargain “improper” from a legal and ethical standpoint.
“Israel is turning into a kind of haven for criminals who have committed the most grave offenses, like this murder,” Melchior told Israel Radio. “The Jewish state should not be turned into a shelter. It is the wrong message.”