Third man sent to prison after stealing sound systems from murdered Nova festival victim

The Beersheba Magistrate’s Court sentenced San Lucian Tevel on Sunday to 28 months in prison for helping steal two high-value sound systems from the Nova music festival massacre site just two days after the Hamas-led October 7 attack three years ago.

The systems belonged to a company co-owned by Matan Lior and his business partner, Amitai Rahum. Lior was murdered at the festival after helping evacuate festival-goers under fire.

Judge Amir Doron also fined Tevel NIS 10,000 and ordered him to pay NIS 20,000 in compensation to Lior’s parents and NIS 10,000 to Rahum. The court ordered the forfeiture of Tevel’s vehicle, which was used in the offenses. Time already served in detention in the case will be deducted from his prison term.

Tevel pleaded guilty under an amended indictment to two counts of aiding aggravated theft. His sentence followed those of the other two men involved, Ram Shahin and Daniel Hasson, who were sentenced by the same court on October 7, the third anniversary of the Hamas-led massacre attack.

In Sunday’s judgment, Doron found that Tevel had provided logistical support without which the criminal plan could not have been carried out. He rented a trailer, gave Shahin his vehicle and connected those involved, knowing the circumstances surrounding the thefts.

The judge said Tevel’s active assistance bordered on full participation in the offenses.

Tevel received a more lenient sentence than co-others involved

Doron nevertheless took account of Tevel’s admission and his post-traumatic stress disorder, placing his sentence at the bottom of the 28-to-36-month range the court set for his conduct. The judge said his condition did not justify a sentence below that range.

Tevel also received suspended prison terms of 12 months and six months, applicable to specified further property or fraud offenses committed within three years of his release.

“Behind every hearing and every postponement is a bereaved family, forced to gather its strength and confront again what was done to their son’s property after he was murdered,” Lior’s father, Ofer, said in a statement released Sunday.

“Nothing will bring Matan back. We fought so that those who harmed what he left behind would be held accountable, and to preserve his dignity and memory.”

Two other men charged with theft, deception, concealment

Shahin, whom the court described as the driving force behind the scheme, was sentenced last month to seven years in prison, less time already served in detention. He was also fined NIS 60,000 and ordered to pay NIS 75,000 to Lior’s parents and NIS 25,000 to Rahum.

The court found that Shahin arranged for a truck driver to collect the first sound system while falsely claiming that he was retrieving equipment belonging to his missing friend.

After a tracking device on a generator alerted police and officers seized the truck and equipment, Shahin falsely presented himself as Lior’s business partner and persuaded a police investigator to release the truck. The second sound system was subsequently taken from the festival site.

Shahin argued that he had initially intended to safeguard the equipment and return it to its owners. The court rejected that account, finding that his repeated acts of deception and concealment established his intention to permanently deprive the owners of the systems.

Hasson, whose role the court found was more limited, pleaded guilty under an amended indictment after some witnesses had testified. He tried to sell the stolen equipment while falsely presenting himself as its owner.

He was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, less time already served in detention, and fined NIS 30,000. The court also ordered him to pay NIS 40,000 to Lior’s parents and NIS 15,000 to Rahum.