The former French president Nicolas Sarkozyhas been sentenced to a one-year prison term after a Paris court found him guilty of illegally financing his unsuccessful 2012 re-election effort.
Sarkozy, who was not in court for the verdict, has denied wrongdoing and is expected to appeal.
The court, in handing down the sentence, said it could be served at home and under electronic surveillance.
Prosecutors said almost twice the maximum permitted amount of €22.5m (£19.4m) was spent on the campaign, in an election he lost to the Socialist party’s François Hollande.
He told the court in June he had not been involved in the logistics of the campaign or in how money was spent. The court said he had been made aware of the overspending and it was not necessary for him to have approved each individual payment to be responsible.
Prosecutors had sought a one-year jail term, half of it suspended, for the 66-year old.
Sarkozy was found guilty in a separate trial in March of trying to bribe a judge and peddle influence in order to obtain confidential information on a judicial inquiry.
The former president was sentenced to three years in jail in that trial, two of which were suspended, but has not actually spent time in prison yet, while his appeal is pending.
He has denied any wrongdoing in that case.
More details soon …
