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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