Sarkozy convicted in campaign financing case
PARIS – Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was convicted Thursday and sentenced to a year of house arrest for illegal campaign financing of his unsuccessful 2012 reelection bid, will appeal the ruling, his lawyer said.
The court said Sarkozy would be allowed to serve the one-year sentence at home by wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet.
Sarkozy’s lawyer, Thierry Herzog, noted that the sentence corresponds to the maximum his client faced. He said Sarkozy had asked him to appeal.
Sarkozy, France’s president from 2007 to 2012, had denied wrongdoing during the trial in May and June.
Sarkozy is accused of having spent almost twice the maximum legal amount of $27.5 million on the reelection bid that he lost to Socialist Francois Hollande.
Thursday’s verdict comes after Sarkozy, 66, was found guilty on March 1 of corruption and influence peddling in another case. He was given a year in prison, and two years suspended, in that case but is free pending appeal.
It is the first time in France’s modern history that a former president has been convicted and sentenced to a prison term for actions during his term.