France’s ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to jail over illegal campaign financing during his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid.
Paris court has accused Sarkozy of spending almost twice the maximum legal amount of 22.5 million euros ($26m) on a re-election bid that he lost to the Socialist Party’s Francois Hollande.
The court was yet to say what sentence he would receive.
However, he is in any case unlikely to go to jail immediately as he would appeal the sentence.
This was the second guilty verdict this year for Sarkozy.
Sarkozy led France from 2007 to 2012 and retains influence among conservatives despite falling from grace over his legal woes.
The former president received a three-year sentenced in that trial. But, he has not actually spent time in prison yet, while his appeal is pending.
He is free pending appeal.
The former French leader also faced accusations he took money from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to fund his successful 2007 presidential campaign and for influence-peddling in case relating to his advisory activities in Russia. The latter aims to determine whether he “engaged in potentially criminal lobbying activities” on behalf of Russian oligarchs.
Sarkozy retired from active politics in 2017, but is still playing a role behind the scenes.
