JERUSALEM (JTA) — The popular Israeli singer known as Margol pleaded guilty to extortion charges as part of a plea bargain.
Margalit Tzan’ani pleaded guilty Sunday in Tel Aviv District Court to extorting her manager. She is expected to be sentenced to several months of community service under the plea bargain.
Tzan’ani, 57, a judge on the popular television store "A Star is Born," allegedly hired figures from a crime syndicate family to threaten her manager over profits that she believed she was owed. She also allegedly brought a contestant that was voted off "A Star Is Born" to her manager in exchange for a share of the profits made in representing the young singer.
In another alleged venture with the crime ring, Tzan’ani was to recruit the show’s finalists to a new PR firm run by the ring, and to advise them how to get out of their contracts with the production company of "A Star Is Born." She also is suspected of influencing the final outcome of the vote on the show.
