The mayor of Saint-Etienne (east-central France), Gaël Perdriau, was sentenced on Monday to five years in prison, one of which was suspended, and five years of ineligibility with immediate effect, in the so-called intimate video blackmail case.

The 53-year-old mayor was found "fully guilty" of blackmail, criminal association and embezzlement of public funds by a court in Lyon (east-central France), in this case of a trap set for a rival, former first deputy Gilles Artigues, who was filmed with a hidden camera in the company of a prostitute, and then forced to keep a low profile.

"The court has heard all your counter-arguments" to the accusations but "has found no excuse" to minimize "the extreme seriousness of the facts," the presiding judge stated. Emphasizing "the duty to set an example," "to maintain dignity," and "to represent the public," she declared the mayor "fully guilty."

After long and sticky days of hearings at the end of September, five years in prison, including three years of mandatory imprisonment, and a sentence of ineligibility with immediate application had been requested against Gaël Perdriau.

"He was the one who had his hands on the nuclear lever," the prosecutor said, describing the mayor as the "decision-maker," even though the plot was carried out by former associates, who have confessed.

Upon hearing the verdict, Gaël Perdriau remained impassive, and a few claps rang out in the courtroom. Leaving the courthouse, he again declared himself "innocent," announcing that he would appeal this "totally incomprehensible" decision.

Trap

Since the scandal broke with an investigation by the news site Mediapart in 2022, the elected official, who has always insisted he played no role in the plot against Mr. Artigues, has refused to resign.

This Catholic centrist, who opposed same-sex marriage, was filmed without his knowledge in a hotel room with a prostitute in January 2015, and then asked to put his political differences to rest under threat of having this sextape released.

Three former members of the mayor's inner circle admitted during the investigation to having orchestrated the trap. The court handed down slightly lighter sentences to them.

Pierre Gauttieri, who was the mayor's chief of staff for ten years and was not present at the deliberation hearing, was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended.

During the investigation, and in court, he had asserted that Gaël Perdriau had asked him, as soon as he was elected in 2014, for "a solution to keep Gilles Artigues in check", whose loyalty he doubted.

A former deputy mayor in charge of education, who acted as bait and planted the hidden camera, was sentenced to four years in prison, one of which was suspended. His former partner, who admitted to planning the sex act and booking the escort, and editing the footage for the intimate video, received a four-year sentence, one year of which was suspended.