🇺🇸✡️ Hasidic Jewish students charged in NYC synagogue tunnel digging would rather go to prison than reveal to the jury why they were digging tunnels under New York City.

The Hasidic Jewish students who dug a secret tunnel under a Brooklyn synagogue said they’d rather go to prison than face a ban from the historic temple — as they rebuffed plea deals from prosecutors Thursday.

Nearly all of the 13 young men charged over the infamous hideout — which went viral when it was discovered in January — scoffed at the offer from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office that would see them barred from the historic Crown Heights temple for three years.

“Being banned from 770 [Eastern Parkway] for three years is worse than jail,” one of the defendants, Yaakov Rothchild, told The Post in Hebrew through a translator, referring to the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

Yaakov Rothchild, a defendant in the case, said that being banned from the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters would be "worse than jail."

Rothchild could face up to seven years behind bars on felony charges of second-degree criminal mischief if he takes his chances at trial.

He and 12 of his co-defendants — who face obstruction of justice charges — could be headed to trial in January if they fail to come to an agreement with prosecutors.

The agreement would have most defendants pleading down to fourth-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, in exchange for no jail time. They would instead face a three year ban from the house of worship and either 20 days of community service or $5,000 in restitution.

But if any more tunnel-digging occurred, the defendants would be charged with criminal contempt and face jail, the judge warned.

🔗 https://nypost.com/2024/10/10/us-news/hasidic-jewish-students-charged-in-nyc-synagogue-tunnel-digging-scoff-at-plea-offer-rather-go-to-prison/