Sarkozy was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in 2014, after he left office, by offering him a prestigious job in exchange for information on a separate case.
In a 2021 ruling, Judge Christine May said the conservative politician “knew what (he) was doing was wrong,” adding that his actions and those of his lawyer created a “very bad image of justice” in the public eye.
The crimes are listed as abuse of influence and violation of official secrecy.
Speaking after the sentencing by the Court of Cassation on Wednesday, Sarkozy’s lawyer, Patrice Spinozzi, said his client would abide by the terms of the sentence.
Sarkozy has now exhausted all his legal options in France, and his planned appeal to the European Court of Human Rights will not delay the execution of the sentence.
The conviction in 2021 was a legal milestone for post-war France.
The only precedent was the trial of Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who was given a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for arranging fake jobs for allies at Paris City Hall when he was mayor of Paris. Chirac died in 2019.
