Former PM Ehud Olmert sentenced to 8 months prison for graft

Jerusalem district court, reversing a former verdict, sentenced former prime minister Ehud Olmert to eight months in prison and NIS100,000 fine on charges of fraud and breach of trust. The sentence, for fraudulently accepting cash in envelopes from the US businessman Moshe Talansky, will run consecutively with the six year-sentence imposed on Olmert in the separate Holyland bribery case. He has 45 days to appeal.

The prosecution asked for at least one year in prison, while the defense asked the court to consider the former prime minister’s service to the country.The court reversed its former near-acquittal after incriminating evidence, including tapes, submitted by his personal assistant Shula Zaken was deemed admissible.