Lev Tahor cult leader sentenced to 144 months over kidnapping, illicit relationship

Lev Tahor cult leader Nachman Helbrans is sentenced to 144 months in prison by a US District Court in White Plains, New York.

He was convicted late last year of six counts for his role in kidnapping two children and bringing them across the US and into Mexico for an illegal sexual relationship.

The prosecution says Helbrans has not shown “one ounce of remorse for his conduct.”

“If he is released he will commit the same crime again.”

The mother of the kidnapped children, a relative of Helbrans, pleads for leniency.

“Even though my children and I have suffered from his actions we have forgiven him,” she tells the court.

Helbrans says he is being punished “only because I’m a loyal Jew.”

He also gets five years probation and must register as a sex offender after his release.

Another defendant in the case, Mayer Rosner, will be sentenced later today.