POLICE COVER-UP LETS DRUG DEALER OFF HOOK

The Supreme Court yesterday quashed a two-year jail sentence for convicted
drug dealer Maxim Cohen after it learned that the police had concealed the
fact that an agent involved in the arrest had sold drugs during his police
work.

Justices Dalia Dorner, Eliezer Rivlin and Miriam Naor, however, accepted an
arrangement between the court-appointed defense attorney and the
prosecution, whereby Cohen's two-year sentence would be run concurrently
with a sentence he is currently serving.

The agent, Morris Ben-Hamu, a former prison guard, was used by Be'er Sheva
police for a four-month period in 1999. The officers who directed Ben-Hamu
used hidden recording equipment to document drug deals at addresses
provided by the police. It became apparent, however, that the police did
not monitor Ben-Hamu's actions once he had been sent to his destination,
and did not check whether he turned the recording equipment off during his
mission.

Cohen's appeal to the district court was turned down, but the Public
Defenders' Office appealed to the Supreme Court on his behalf.

Attorney Hagit Lernau claimed that after Cohen was convicted, it became
known that Ben-Hamu sold and used drugs during the police work.