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Spanish Court Upholds Lionel Messi's 21-Month Suspended Sentence

Spain's Supreme Court on Wednesday "upheld a 21-month suspended prison sentence" for Barcelona's Lionel Messi in his appeal over three counts of tax fraud, a judicial source confirmed, according to Samuel Marsden of ESPN.com. Messi's father, Jorge, "has seen his sentence reduced from 21 to 15 months for his cooperation in returning some of the defrauded money." Neither "is likely to serve any jail time because, under Spanish law, a tax prison sentence of less than two years can be served under probation." Barcelona spokesperson Josep Vives said, "The Club reiterates, once again, its full support for Leo Messi, his father Jorge Messi, and his family. This afternoon, FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu contacted the player's family to communicate this support." Messi and his father were first sentenced on July 6 but appealed, with prosecutors "eventually asking the Spanish Supreme Court to review the sentences last month." Prosecutors in last year's case judged that Messi and his father had used tax havens and shell companies to "avoid paying taxes" totaling €4.1M on earnings from image rights from '07-09 (ESPN.com, 5/24). The BBC reported Messi told his trial in June '16, "I only worried about playing football." In its decision on Wednesday, the court said, "It defies logic to concede that someone who earns a large income does not know that he must pay taxes on it" (BBC, 5/24).

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