Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy received a sentence of one year of imprisonment on Thursday, which he will be allowed to serve at home, for violating campaign funding laws.
Sarkozy and 12 other co-defendants in the case were found guilty of spending more than $54 million for the former president’s unsuccessful re-election bid in 2012, way exceeding the limit of $24 million. In order to conceal the fact of surpassing the legal expenditure ceiling, the group reportedly used fake invoices, according to CNN.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to one year in prison for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid.
He is the first French head of state in modern times to receive two jail terms. https://t.co/PjsFrgkH8a
— CNN (@CNN) September 30, 2021
“Nicolas Sarkozy knew the spending limit. He knew he shouldn’t exceed it,” the judge said, CNN reported. (RELATED: Former French President Nikolas Sarkozy Accused Of ‘Criminal Conspiracy’ For Allegedly Accepting Libyan Campaign Financing)
Sarkozy denied any wrongdoing and claimed he would go “right to the end” in appealing the ruling. The 66-year-old former president was allowed to serve the one-year sentence at home provided that he would wear an electronic bracelet, according to BBC.
The Thursday sentencing made Sarkozy the first French leader to have received two convictions, according to CNN.
He was sentenced to one year in prison in March 2021 after being convicted of corruption and influence peddling but has remained free pending an appeal of the decision. The March ruling stemmed from Sarkozy’s 2014 attempt to bribe a magistrate into revealing information about a legal proceeding the former president was involved in.