Berlusconi convicted in sex-for-hire case; sentenced to 7 years and barred from office

Berlusconi convicted in sex-for-hire case sentenced to 7 years and

barred from office

MILAN A Milan court on Monday convicted former Italian Premier Silvio

Berlusconi of paying for sex with an underage prostitute during

infamous "bunga bunga" parties at his villa and then using his

influence to try to cover it up.



Berlusconi, 76, was sentenced to seven years in prison and barred from

public office for life - a sentence that could mean the end of his

two-decade political career. However, there are two more levels of

appeal before the sentence would become final, a process that can take

months.



Berlusconi holds no official post in the current Italian government,

but remains influential in the uneasy cross-party coalition that

emerged after inconclusive February elections.

Both he and the Moroccan woman at the center of the scandal have

denied ever having sex.



His lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, immediately announced an appeal and said

the sentence was as expected as it was unjust.



"This is beyond reality," Ghedini told reporters outside the

courthouse. The sentence was even stiffer than the six-year prison

term and lifetime ban on public office that prosecutors had originally

requested.



"I'm calm because I've been saying for three years that this trial

should never have taken place here," Ghedini said.



The charges against the billionaire media mogul stem from the "bunga

bunga" parties in 2010 at his mansion near Milan, where he wined and

dined beautiful young women while he was premier. He says the dinner

parties were elegant soirees; prosecutors say they were sex-fueled

parties that women were paid to attend.



Neither Berlusconi nor the woman at the center of the case, Karima

el-Mahroug, better known by her nickname Ruby, have testified in this

trial. El-Mahroug was called by the defense but failed to show on a

couple of occasions, delaying the trial. Berlusconi's team eventually

dropped her from the witness list.



El-Mahroug did testify in the separate trial of three Berlusconi aides

charged with procuring prostitutes for the parties. She told that

court that Berlusconi's disco featured aspiring showgirls dressed as

sexy nuns and nurses performing striptease acts, and that one woman

even dressed up as President Barack Obama.



Berlusconi was not in court on Monday. The three female judges

deliberated for more than seven hours before delivering their verdict.

Their written explanations for arriving at the verdict will be

submitted in the next few weeks.



Berlusconi frequently has railed against Milan prosecutors and judges,

accusing them of mounting politically motivated cases against him.



El-Mahroug, now 20, said in the other trial that she attended about a

half-dozen parties at Berlusconi's villa, and that after each,

Berlusconi handed her an envelope with up to 3,000 euros ($3,900). She

said she later received 30,000 euros cash from the then-premier paid

through an intermediary - money that she told Berlusconi she wanted to

use to open a beauty salon, despite having no formal training.



She was 17 at the time of the alleged encounters but passed herself

off as being 24. She also claimed she was related to then-Egyptian

President Hosni Mubarak. Berlusconi's lawyers argued that he -

thinking el-Mahroug was indeed Mubarak's niece - called police after

she was detained in a bid to avoid a diplomatic incident.



El-Mahroug denied that Berlusconi had ever given her 5 million euros

($6.43 million). She said she told acquaintances and even her father

that she was going to receive such a large sum "as a boast," but that

it was a lie to make her seem more important.



The verdict garnered intense international media attention with half a

dozen TV satellite trucks taking positions outside the courthouse. The

verdict comes on the heels of Berlusconi's tax-fraud conviction, which

along with a four-year prison sentence and five-year ban on public

office, have been upheld on a first appeal.



Berlusconi sentenced after tax fraud verdict upheld

At Berlusconi trial, court hears of "stripper nuns"

The tax-fraud case is heading to Italy's highest court for a final

appeal after Berlusconi's defense failed to derail it last week at the

constitutional court.



Berlusconi, who has been tried numerous times relating to his business

dealings, has been convicted in other cases at the trial level. But

those convictions have always either been overturned on appeal or the

statute of limitations has run out before Italy's high court could

have its say.



The sex-for-hire case is the first involving his personal conduct.

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