TA court finds Erez Efrati guilty of November 2009 attack.
By JPOST.COM STAFFerez efrati 248.88(photo credit: Channel 10)The Tel Aviv District Court on Tuesday found IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi's former bodyguard Erez Efrati guilty of sodomy.The 30-year-old Moshav Batzra resident had previously confessed attempting to rape a 22-year-old woman in the Tel Aviv Port. RELATED:Ashkenazi's former bodyguard admits attempted rapeThe attack occurred at the end of November, after Efrati left a strip club in which he was celebrating his own bachelor party. He had been scheduled to get married December 2, but he and his fiancee called off the wedding.Efrati's admitted at the beginning of the trial to all the counts brought against him: attempted aggravated rape, attempted sodomy, aggravated assault, assault with intent to commit a crime and intimidation.His lawyers submitted expert opinions to the effect that he had been served alcoholic beverages falsely substituted for those he ordered by the establishment at which he had been drinking, and this caused his loss of control.As part of a plea bargain between the State Attorney's Office and Efrati's defense lawyer, the former bodyguard was tried by the court only on the charge of sodomy.He currently awaits sentencing for the crime, which carries a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.
