Berlusconi jailed for fraud

AC Milan owner and former Italy Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been
sentenced to jail for tax evasion.
A four-year sentence has been
reduced to one year due to a 2006
amnesty law aimed at reducing prison
overcrowding.
Berlusconi, 76, is expected to appeal
against the sentence - the first he has
been given after a number of previous
trials and inquiries found in his favour -
and is unlikely to go to prison due to
his age, the lengthy appeals process
and statute of limitations
The media tycoon, who has also been
barred from holding public office for
three years, was not in the courtroom
for the verdict on the case which stems
from dealings in his Mediaset business
empire.
The prosecution had claimed
Berlusconi - and 10 other defendants -
had bought television rights for US
films through a series of offshore
companies, before falsely declaring the
payments in order to avoid taxes.
Berlusconi was Italy's longest-serving
post-war Prime Minister, but he
resigned last November over his
country's debt crisis.
He remained AC Milan's president and
owner, as well as Italy's richest man. It
is not clear yet what the consequences
of Berlusconi's sentence will be for the
Rossoneri.