THE former French president Nicolas Sarkozy found guilty today by Court of Appeal of Paris for illegally financing his 2012 election campaign, upholding a lower court’s original ruling.

He was sentenced to one year in prisonthe six months suspended, which can be served by alternative means such as an electronic bracelet, without going to jail.

Sarkozy had been sentenced to a year in prison in 2021 when he was first found guilty, although his sentence was suspended as he appealed.

Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, remained an influential politician among conservatives and is on friendly terms with President Emmanuel Macron despite a series of lawsuits and investigations linked to various legal issues surrounding his campaign financing.

He still denies the accusations that his partythe Republicans, then UMP, worked with a PR firm called Bygmalion to hide the true cost of his campaign — marked by lavish events then unprecedented in French politics.

During the hearing, Sarkozy blamed members of his staff: “I did not choose any supplier, I did not sign any offer, any invoice”he told the court.

France places strict limits on campaign spending. Prosecutors argue that the company issued invoices to UMP instead of the campaign. They say Sarkozy spent 42.8 million euros on his unsuccessful 2012 re-election campaign, nearly double the amount allowed.