France's Sarkozy likely to avoid jail despite new conviction

FILE PHOTO: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives for a hearing in a trial over alleged illegal financing of his failed re-election campaign in 2012, with 13 other defendants, former officials of Bygmalion and representatives of the UMP, at the courthouse in Paris, France, June 15, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was handed a one-year prison sentence by a Paris court on Thursday after being found guilty of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid.

Sarkozy, 66, is unlikely to go to jail. He decided to appeal the sentence, a move that in effect suspends it, and the judge said he could serve the sentence at home with an electronic tag.