Sarkozy, Berlusconi, and Trump: The world leaders with a criminal record

Former president Donald Trump has officially carved his place in US history books, becoming the first ex-president with a criminal record.

But he is not the first world leader to face — or be handed — a criminal conviction.

After a six-week hush-money trial, Trump was found guilty of all 34 charges of falsifying business records, which all relate to a $130,000 hush-money payment to former adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 election campaign.

This means the businessman-turned-politician will now go down in history as the first US President to be convicted of a crime, making him the first major political party candidate running for US office as a convicted felon.

However, Trump is not the first (ex) world leader to have a criminal conviction under his belt.

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy, who served as the President of France and co-prince of Andorra from 2007 to 2012, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 (with two of them suspended) after being found guilty of corruption.

Sarkozy’s original appeal had suspended the sentencing, although he was found guilty again earlier this year. It was a court case that was followed by yet another appeal.

The conviction made Sarkozy the second French Presidential leader to be convicted of corruption after Jacques Chirac, who served as the French President from 1995 to 2007.

Silvio Berlusconi

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi faced a total of 35 criminal court cases, all ranging from bribery and underage prostitution to abuse of office. However, he was only ever convicted for tax fraud in 2013.

Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in prison, three of which were pardoned, although one was served as a year’s worth of community service at a Catholic care home outside of Milan.

Will Donald Trump go to jail?

After Trump was convicted, the public was quick to question whether he could still run for office—and the answer is yes.

There are a total of three US constitutional requirements to run for President, and Trump checks the boxes for all of them: he is a natural-born US citizen, is over the age of 35, and has lived in the US for the past 14 years.

Beyond those three requirements, the American people have the freedom to vote for whoever they choose, felon or not.

Trump could face a maximum sentence of four years in prison, although being an older man with no violent convictions and being expected to appeal, he’s unlikely to see the inside of the jail cell.

Judge Juan Merchan will kick off the proceedings on July 11, just four days before he is expected to be nominated as the republican party’s presidential candidate.