Former French Prime Minister François Fillon was sentenced on Tuesday, June 17 to four years in prison with a suspended sentence, along with a fine of 375,000 euros and five years of ineligibility. The Paris Court of Appeal found him guilty of embezzlement of public funds in the case of the fictitious jobs of his wife Penelope, who held a position as a parliamentary assistant without justification for actual work.
This decision comes after a third trial ordered by the Court of Cassation, which definitively confirmed Mr. Fillon’s guilt while overturning the one-year prison sentence handed down in May 2022. The court deemed that the latter was not sufficiently motivated.
During the hearing on April 29, exclusively dedicated to the prosecution’s requests, the Attorney General had requested four years of suspended imprisonment, a fine of 375,000 euros, and ten years of ineligibility.
The court also confirmed the award of 126,167 euros in damages to the National Assembly, corresponding to one of Mrs. Fillon’s parliamentary assistant contracts between 2012 and 2013.
François Fillon’s lawyer, Mr. Antonin Lévy, welcomed the decision as “putting this matter in its rightful place.” He emphasized that his client “will not serve a prison sentence or wear an electronic bracelet” and remains a “free man.” However, he indicated that a new appeal to the Court of Cassation was not excluded.
It is worth noting that the sentences of Penelope Fillon and Marc Joulaud, former substitute of François Fillon, have been definitively confirmed. In the first instance, in 2020, François Fillon was sentenced to five years in prison, two of which were firm.
