ROME, Oct 26: A court in Italy has convicted former Premier Silvio Berlusconi of tax fraud and sentenced him to four years in prison.
In Italy, cases must pass two levels of appeal before the verdicts are final. Berlusconi is expected to appeal.[break]
The conviction on Friday was the media mogul’s first - other criminal probes and trials had ended in acquittal or were thrown out for statute of limitations.
The 76-year-old wasn’t in the courtroom for the verdict on the case stemming from dealings in his Mediaset business empire.