A Paris court sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison for accepting illegal campaign funding from the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, France24 reports.
The court’s ruling states that he will remain in prison regardless of whether he appeals. The judge also ordered him to pay a fine of €100,000.
Prosecutors allege that Sarkozy, who has always denied the charges, struck a deal with Gaddafi in 2005. At the time, he was France’s interior minister and did so in exchange for campaign funding to support the then-isolated Libyan government on the international stage.
Sarkozy is likely to appeal.