Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League, was ordered yesterday to begin serving a one-year Jail term on March 18 on conviction in federal court here on charges of violating a 1971 probation. A spokesman for the JDL confirmed this will be Rabbi Kahane’s first Jail term, although he was held for 30 days detention in Israel. Rabbi Kahane was scheduled to surrender yesterday but federal Judge Jack Weinstein granted a three-week extension to allow Rabbi Kahane to finish a four-state lecture tour of college campuses.
Barry Slotnick, Rabbi Kahane’s attorney, said last Friday he would appeal the sentence, but yesterday he said he was not planning an appeal, He also said a state probation violation hearing on March 13 might result in an additional Jail term for the JDL founder. In pronouncing sentence, Judge Weinstein said Rabbi Kahane would probably serve his term in a minimum security prison with special measures to safeguard him from any attacks by other inmates, The JDL spokesman said he did not know why plans for an appeal had been dropped.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.