Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Alleged Ecstasy Kingpin Pleads Not Guilty

Ft. Lauderdale, FL - The man federal prosecutors claim is the world’s biggest distributors of the drug Ecstasy pleaded not guilty to federal charges that could put him in prison for up to 40 years

51-year-old Zeev Rosenstein, an Israeli citizen, entered the plea nearly three months after he was extradited from Israel to face charges that he conspired to distribute more than 1 million Ecstasy pills in the U.S. between summer 1999 and November 2001.

Rosenstein, dressed in a tan jailhouse outfit, said "not guilty, your honor" through a Hebrew translator when asked for a plea by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer. No trial date has been set. He is being held on $10 million bond. His attorney, Howard Srebnick, said Rosenstein is currently unable to make bail despite having significant financial resources around the world.

At the hearing, Srebnick said Rosenstein is kept in solitary custody for 23 hours a day in the special housing unit, or "SHU," reserved for high-security prisoners at the Miami federal detention center.