A French court Thursday imposed a one-year sentence on former president Nicolas Sarkozy after finding him guilty of illegal campaign financing for massive overspending on his 2012 re-election campaign. Sarkozy's lawyer said he would appeal. The verdict came six months after he was found guilty of corruption in a separate trial.
The court will allow the ex-president to serve the sentence at home by wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet, FRANCE 24 said.
Sarkozy, who spent nearly twice the legal limit on his failed bid for a second term in office, wasn't present at the Paris court for the announcement of the verdict.
The 66-year-old right-winger pulled out all the stops in 2012 to try fend off the ultimately victorious Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande.
A series of lavish US-style election rallies caused his costs to spiral, with the final bill coming to at least 42.8 million euros $49.7 million), nearly double the legal limit of 22.5 million euros.
It was the second guilty verdict this year for Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012 and retains influence among conservatives despite falling from grace over his legal woes.
The court stated that Sarkozy “knew” weeks before the 2012 election that the legal limit was at stake and “voluntarily” failed to supervise additional expenses, with prosecutors accusing him of having ignored two notes from his accountants warning about the money issue.
Prosecutors argued Sarkozy is “the only person responsible for his campaign financing” and that he chose to exceed the limit by organizing many rallies, including giant ones.
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