Just In: Ex-French President Sarkozy sentenced to prison for corruption

Former French President Nicolas Sakozy has been found guilty of corruption over charges of trying to bribe a magistrate.

The judge sentenced Sarkozy to 3 years in prison, with 2 years suspended.

Judge Christine Mee, who presided over the case, stated that the 66-year-old former political leader had “used his status as former French president” in a “particularly serious” act of wrongdoing, as she handed down the sentence.

Sarkozy was put on trial over accusations of trying to bribe Gilbert Azibert, a French magistrate, by offering him a well-paid job in Monaco in return for information into a criminal investigation into his political party at the time, the Union for a Popular Movement.

The investigation was looking into claims that Sarkozy and his party had received illegally payments from businesswoman Liliane Bettencourt during his successful 2007 presidential campaign.