France’s Sarkozy convicted of corruption, gets jail time
PARIS – A Paris court found former French President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling Monday and sentenced him to a year in prison. He can ask to serve that time at home and plans to appeal.
The 66-year-old, who was president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated.
He will remain free while he appeals, but it was a blow to the retired politician who still plays an influential role in French conservative politics. It’s not the end of his legal troubles either: He faces another trial this month and is also under investigation in a third case.
The ruling marks the first time in France’s modern history that a former president has been convicted of corruption and given a prison term. His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was found guilty in 2011 of misuse of public money during his time as Paris mayor and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.
The court said Sarkozy is entitled to ask to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet – as is the case for any sentence of two years or less. He also received a conditional two-year suspended sentence.
Later, Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, said he would appeal.
Sarkozy’s co-defendants – his lawyer and longtime friend Thierry Herzog, 65, and nowretired magistrate Gilbert Azibert, 74 – were also found guilty and given the same sentence as the politician.
When Pontiac-based United Wholesale Mortgage set out to donate hot meals from restaurants to local shelters, they asked the community to nominate the restaurants.
The result? The company received over 1,600 nominations of restaurants within five days.
UWM is purchasing up to $2,000 worth of food from a restaurant every day until March 31 to give to shelters. The public can designate in an online survey the restaurants and shelters they think need help.
The food will be delivered to one of three groups in Pontiac: Grace Centers of Hope, Hope Against Trafficking and the Baldwin Center.
“It (the initiative) was very, very positively received by the restaurants because they’re getting a good amount of business for the day and being able to deliver great, warm meals to homeless shelters as well,” Matt Ishbia, president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, said. “Two groups are winning instead of just one, so we’re proud to be able to do that.”
It’s a critical time to help local businesses and nonprofits, Ishbia said. He said helping local restaurants and shelters is a passion of UWM.
“We’d love to be able to help everybody, but we obviously can’t. It was really nice to see the community come out to support the restaurants and the people that run those that they love,” he said.
Some of the restaurants that have participated in the initiative so far include Guido’s Premium Pizza in Pontiac, Anita’s Kitchen in Ferndale, Pops Family Restaurant in Waterford, Heroes Restaurant in Waterford, Leo’s
Coney Island in Pontiac, Tavern on the Main in Clawson and Fillmore 13 Brewery in Pontiac.
Berkley Common, a traditional gastropub with a global twist in Berkley, was nominated to receive funding. It prepared the food that was set to be delivered to the Baldwin Center, which is a human services agency. The Baldwin Center then distributed the food to Grace Centers of Hope, a homeless shelter.
“It feels great,” said Katie Kutscher, owner of Berkley Common. “We’ve worked really hard before COVID and during COVID to solidify relationships with other organizations that help out, whether it’s fundraising for schools or shelter meals and hospital meals. We’ve always been actively involved in the community, so I’m glad that the community took notice.”
Kutscher said with restaurants being at 25% occupancy because of COVID-19 restrictions, large purchases of food can make a huge difference to the bottom line.
“These types of collaborations, especially during this unprecedented time, keep restaurant employees employed,” Kutscher said. “And packaging the food, knowing it’s for a great cause, makes everybody’s morale really high. So it feels good all around.”
Berkley Common is open for indoor dining, carryout and outdoor dining in igloos that can fit up to six people and a winter wonderland lodge experience. Soon, the restaurant is opening a bar-lounge that is a private event space upstairs.
UWM has been a longtime donor to Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac, a one-year faithbased homeless shelter and addiction rehabilitation facility. The shelter is separated with a men’s side and a women and children’s side, and each side receives a hot meal from local restaurants through the initiative on Saturday and Sunday evenings.
“It’s fantastic,” said Mark Cunningham, public relations and communications director at Grace Centers of Hope. “While we do get great donations of food and we have some really good cooks, to get a catered meal from a good local restaurant is quite a treat. And it brightens up a day.”
Many local businesses contribute to residents at Grace Centers of Hope, including Metro Wire & Cable, Sarah’s Bath Boutique, Iannuzzi Manetta CPA firm, CAPS Remodeling and iMBranded. These businesses donate items such as snow shovels, GED books, gift cards, toiletries, meals and financial support.
Grace Centers of Hope is staffed by many residents of the shelter who give back to the facility during their stay, including as cooks. The program’s residents are obtaining their GEDs, receiving case management for life skills and addiction recovery, searching for jobs and taking their children to the in-house day care. So Cunningham said initiatives like this let their residents know that even though they may be at a low point in their lives, things will be OK and that people care about them.
“This kind of shows how much they do think about us,” Cunningham said. “That they don’t just want to do the same thing over and over. They thought what can we do that’s cool, that’s different, that’s fresh. They really definitely have a soft spot for us.”