A 46-year-old former Israeli air force general, Rami Dotan, was sentenced Wednesday to serve 13 years in prison, stripped of rank and dishonorably discharged under a plea bargain reached with a special Israel Defense Force court-martial at General Headquarters here.
The three senior officers who comprised the court, presided over by Brig. Gen. Nili Peled, said they signed the agreement “with a heavy heart.”
They believed Dotan, whom they called a “leviathan of a criminal,” deserved a much more severe punishment.
He is the highest-ranking IDF officer ever sentenced to prison.
He performed his illegal activities over a long period without regard for the public harm he was causing or the damage he was doing the reputation of the IDF, the court said.
Dotan, who held the rank of brigadier general, headed the air force purchasing branch at General Headquarters until his arrest last October.
He subsequently pleaded guilty to 12 counts of corruption, bribery, illegal acquisition of $12 million in Defense Ministry funds and conspiracy to murder a former civilian employee of the air force procurement branch who could serve as a witness against him.
Dotan’s misdeeds stemmed from his duties as chief of the air force purchasing mission in New York in the mid-1980s.
Under the plea bargain, he received a five-year suspended sentence in addition to the 13 years behind bars. He agreed not to appeal the sentence.
Another condition was the prosecution’s agreement not to take legal action against Dotan’s wife, who was reportedly privy to some of his illegal acts.
The deal drew public criticism. But the prosecution said it was the only way to get a secure case against Dotan, who promised to cooperate, name his accomplices and return the embezzled funds.
He is said to have returned about $10 million. U.S. authorities are reported to have seized another $2 million. They are reported to be investigating American contractors who allegedly took bribes from Dotan and gave kickbacks.
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