A Rehovot Magistrate’s Court sentenced Mor Biton to 13 months in prison on Monday after he pleaded guilty to growing, manufacturing and preparing dangerous drugs. Biton is married to Adi Khodfi-Biton, an adviser to Social Equality Minister Mai Golan.
Police found a drug lab with 78 cannabis plants at the couple’s home in Yavne. Judge Karen Wexler declared Biton a “drug dealer” and also imposed a suspended sentence and a fine of ₪12,000 ($4,000).
According to the indictment, investigators from Lahav 433, Israel’s national crime unit, discovered the lab in one of the home’s rooms during a raid as part of an investigation which examins suspected criminal conduct in the Social Equality Ministry. In addition to the plants, police found more drugs and equipment used for growing and manufacturing drugs in the apartment, storage room and vehicles.
Biton took responsibility for the drugs found in the house and claimed his wife didn’t know what was happening in the locked room, which was adjacent to their bedroom. Khodfi-Biton herself was suspected in the case of a series of offenses, including fraud and drug offenses, following the findings discovered at the house.
The broader investigation is examining suspicions of fraud, using public funds for private purposes, fictitious employment and concealing sources of funding. Last July, Minister Golan was summoned for questioning under caution on suspicion of a series of offenses, including bribery, fraud, breach of trust and filing a false affidavit.