Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, right, was found guilty of paying Karima el Mahroug, a dancer nicknamed "Ruby the Heart-Stealer," for sex when she was a minor.
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was found guilty Monday of paying a minor for sex and abuse of power in office. He was sentenced to seven years in jail and banned from public office for life.
After 50 hearings spread over two years, the Italian media mogul and three-time prime minster was found guilty of paying Karima el Mahroug, a Moroccan-born dancer, for sex at his mansion outside Milan in 2010 when she was 17. Paying a minor for sex in Italy is illegal.
Berlusconi was also found guilty of using his position as prime minister to pressure police to release Mahroug into the care of one of his associates when the teenager was arrested on suspicion of theft that year, rather than allowing her to be placed under the supervision of local authorities, as would be more usual.
Despite the prison sentence, Berlusconi, 76, will remain free and be allowed to participate in politics while he appeals the verdict handed down by a panel of judges in Milan. Under Italy’s three-tier legal system, Berlusconi will be able to mount two appeals against the sentence and will not serve any jail time until a final verdict is handed down by Italy’s Supreme Court, which could take years.
Niccolo Ghedini, a lawyer representing Berlusconi, described the sentence, which was a year more than the six years requested by prosecutors, as "hallucinatory."
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