Israel: An Israeli court sentenced the eldest son of Israel's incapacitated prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to nine months in prison on Tuesday for illegally raising funds for his father's 1999 primary election campaign.
Omri Sharon pleaded guilty in November to falsifying corporate documents, perjury and violating party funding laws.
He admitted to funnelling over $1.3 million through fictitious companies for his father's campaign.
The charges carried a maximum of five years in prison. Under Israeli law, a legislator convicted of an offense defined as one of "moral turpitude" must resign.
In sentencing the prime minister's son, the Tel Aviv District Court said Omri Sharon would also be on probation for an additional nine months and would have to pay a fine of 300,000 shekels ($64,000) .
"This is a swamp of political corruption and it must be dried up," Israel cited Judge Edna Beckenstein as writing in the ruling.
Ariel Sharon, who at the moment is fighting for his life in Hadassah hospital near Jerusalem, had earlier denied any involvement in the matter.
However, Omri's imprisonment has been delayed by six months due to his father's critical condition.
Forty-one-year-old Omri quit as a Member of Parliament in January 2006, in anticipation of the sentence. A court case had been going on for some time now.
This is the first time that a promiment Israeli politician has been sentenced to jail for corruption.
His lawyer, Navit Negev, has described the sentence as "exceptionally harsh" and said that she will appeal against it.
The younger Sharon told the Tel Aviv court last month that he was inexperienced in politics when he began working to get his father elected as prime minister.
"I have made grave mistakes, and I'm sorry about that," he said.
(With inputs from CNN)
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