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An end to the international entanglement of 60-year-old Leah (Lirai) Kopel Nichols, the Israeli-American mother who was arrested in Crete about a month ago and was released about ten days ago with the help of her lawyers and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Yesterday (Thursday) she turned herself in to the United States, stood trial in California, and in a plea deal that her lawyers made with the prosecution, she was fined a nominal amount of $270, and was released while the case was finally closed.
Koppel-Nicholas was arrested in Greece following an Interpol warrant issued against her against an arrest request from the United States, where she was wanted for kidnapping her children to Israel.
The Supreme Court of Israel ruled back in 2015 that she is entitled to asylum in the country, and will not be extradited to the United States.
In the meantime, the father passed away, and about three weeks ago, for the first time since she fled to Israel, Lia dared to leave the country for a vacation in Crete, not before trying to check, without success, if there was still an arrest warrant against her.
On the advice of her lawyers, the Israeli Nir Yaslovich and the American Jim Tierney, Lia-Lirai flew to the United States and yesterday upon landing at the airport in Los Angeles, she turned herself in to the authorities.
She was arrested and transferred to a detention facility, where she was held with other arrests and later brought to a California court in the city of Victorville in San Brandino County, where she was wanted for seven years.
The three crimes of kidnapping, for each of her three children, and for which she was wanted, were converted to misdemeanors of keeping the children away from their father, in accordance with the agreement she did not atone for them, and the judge ordered the district attorney's office to take her to jail, register her and immediately release her.
Liya (Lirai) Kopel in Israel, December 2022 (Photo: Yoav Itiel)
Lia claimed over the years that she fled with her children from the United States to Israel, after her husband hurt her and threatened to kill her.
She married an American lawyer in 1998, the two lived in California and had three children.
According to her, at a certain point, the husband became violent, verbally and physically, beating her and the children repeatedly and in one of his fits of rage he even killed the family dog.
They divorced, joint custody of the children was established, with the authorities in the United States providing her with protection and enrolling the children in the "Children's Education Unit" program designed to protect children suffering from domestic violence.
However, the threats and pressure continued, and in 2014 she fled to Israel with her children, when they were 10-13 years old.
The father filed a request under the Hague Convention for Israel to return the mother and children to the United States, claiming that the mother escaped from joint custody and kidnapped the children.
The request of the American authorities was brought to the Supreme Court of Israel, and as mentioned, a panel of three judges led by Judge Zvi Handel unanimously ruled on May 20, 2015 that she is entitled to asylum in Israel.
But the United States did not recognize this arrangement and insisted on prosecuting it before a court in California.
Lawyer Nir Yaslovich, who worked for her release in Greece and the plea deal in the United States with the help of the local lawyers, told Walla that "after a long effort, I welcome the plea agreement that was forged between me and the Attorney General in the United States according to which she will only receive a monetary fine and not a prison sentence, taking into account the circumstances The particularities according to which Lia and her children went through a continuous journey of abuse by the children's father. Now Lia and her children will be able to live without any restrictive conditions of one kind or another and without any fear and that is to be congratulated."
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