Just two days after announcing he won't run in spring elections, former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison Friday in a verdict that could see him barred from public office for five years。

　　Berlusconi, after dominating Italian politics for nearly two decades, has seen his power weakening in the last year as a sex scandal tarnished

　　his image and he was forced to resign as premier after failing to convince financial markets that he could come up with convincing reforms to shield Italy from Europe's debt woes。

　　In the latest blow, the 76-year-old billionaire media mogul

　　received the stiffest sentence among the four co-defendants convicted in a scheme that involved inflating the price his media empire paid for TV rights to U.S. movies and pocketing the difference. And the sentence was more than the three years and eight months sought by prosecutors。

　　The court, which began hearing the case in 2006, also said Berlusconi could not hold public office for five years or manage any company for three years, penalties that would take force only if the conviction is upheld on two levels of appeal。

　　In a statement, Berlusconi's lawyers condemned the verdict as `'absolutely incredible," and said they would appeal. Berlusconi is expected to remain free while two levels of appeal are exhausted。

　　However, a corruption bill drafted by the technical government headed by Premier Mario Monti, who replaced Berlusconi, would bar anyone convicted at the trial level from seeking office。

　　意大利前总理、AC米兰主席贝卢斯科尼因MEDIASET电视转播权案被判4年监禁，同时被禁止公职5年。就在贝卢斯科尼宣布不参与总理竞选的两天后，这场于2006年就开始了的漏税案终于有了裁决。法庭宣判后，贝卢斯科尼并没有发表评论，其代表律师称此次判决为“完全不可思议”，并表示会提起上诉。