Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to three years in prison, including two suspended, after a Paris court found the former French president guilty of corruption and influence peddling.
Sarkozy, who maintained his innocence and will appeal, is the second French leader under the Fifth Republic to be convicted after leaving office. The late Jacques Chirac was handed a suspended jail sentence in 2011 for misusing public funds by hiring fictitious employees during his earlier stint as Paris mayor.
The court on Monday found that Sarkozy had entered a corruption pact with his lawyer Thierry Herzog and former judge Gilbert Azibert. Herzog and Azibert each received the same sentence as Sarkozy.