Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to one year Thursday for violating campaign funding laws, he will serve his time at home.
Sarkozy along with 12 other co-defendants in the case was found guilty of spending more than $54 million for the former president’s 2012 re-election bid, flagrantly surpassing the limit of $24 million. The group used fake invoices in an effort to conceal excessive spending, according to CNN.
“Nicolas Sarkozy knew the spending limit. He knew he shouldn’t exceed it,” the judge said.
Sarkozy denied the charges and vowed that he would go “right to the end” in appealing the ruling. The 66-year-old former president will be allowed to serve his one-year sentence at home with the stipulation that he would be required to wear an electronic monitor.
Sarkozy is the first French leader to have received two convictions, according to CNN.
The former French president received a one-year sentence in March 2021 when he was convicted of corruption and influence-peddling although has been free pending an appeal of the decision. The March ruling came as the result of Sarkozy’s 2014 attempt to bribe a magistrate into divulging information about a former president’s involvement in a legal proceeding.
Leave a Reply