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.
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.