Levi Aron will admit he murdered Leiby Kletzky: Sources

Levi Aron, the Brooklyn man accused of kidnapping, murdering and dismembering 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky last year, will plead guilty to the gruesome killing, sources confirmed to amNewYork Wednesday.

Aron, 36, is expected to accept a plea deal during his next court appearance on Aug. 9, according to sources familiar with the agreement. Under the deal, which needs a judge's approval, Aron will admit guilt in exchange for a sentence of 40 years to life in prison. The deal was first reported by the Daily News.

"A deal has been offered. The Kletzky family is eager to see this concluded," said Yehudah Meth, a spokesman for Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is representing the family and is expected to speak on their behalf at next week's court appearance. "Forty years to life is, by and large, a life sentence."

Meth said the family agreed to a deal to avoid a potentially lengthy trial.

"The pain that they have suffered is unimaginable," he said. "Why go through a long trial?"

One source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to discuss the arrangement, confirmed that Kletzky's parents and Aron had agreed to the deal.

"Everybody is OK with it," said the source. "The family, [Aron's] lawyer, he -- I guess -- is."

A spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney said he would not comment on the case, but did not refute that a deal was in place.

Aron's lawyer, Pierre Bazile, said, "No comment," when he was reached by phone Wednesday afternoon.

Kletzky disappeared last July after he left his Borough Park day camp. He was supposed to walk a few blocks to meet his mother, but got lost. Kletzky allegedly asked Aron for directions, and was led into the latter's car.

Cops barged into Aron's apartment two days later, where they found parts of the boy's dismembered body in a freezer. Aron then took police to a nearby dumpster, where he had hidden the rest of the body.

Aron confessed to police that he "panicked" when he realized there was a massive search for Kletzky and killed him. The medical examiner concluded that Kletzky was drugged and fatally smothered with a towel before being chopped up.