FILE PHOTO: Former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher of Germany looks on during the qualifying session for the Italian F1 Grand Prix race at the Monza racetrack in Monza, near Milan, in this September 13, 2008 file photo. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has found three people guilty of attempting to blackmail the family of Formula 1 great Michael Schumacher, with the plot leader sentenced to three years in prison.
All three, including the 53-year-old ringleader and his son, were found guilty on Wednesday by the Wuppertal district court of trying to extract money with the threat of releasing videos and photos of the former world champion.
The 53-year-old was given the prison sentence while his son and the third man, a former employee of a security firm hired to protect the family home in Switzerland, were handed suspended sentences.
Schumacher has not been seen in public since he suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013.
Schumacher's family maintain strict privacy about his condition, with access limited to those closest to him.
Last year his family secured 200,000 euros ($207,840.00) compensation from the publishers of a German magazine that printed an AI-generated 'interview' with the seven times Formula One world champion.
($1 = 0.9623 euros)
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
