Lionel Messi sentenced to 21 months in jail for tax fraud, but won’t do any time

Reporting from Madrid —  A Barcelona court on Wednesday gave soccer superstar Lionel Messi and his father suspended sentences of 21 months in prison for tax fraud.

The court found Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, guilty of three counts of defrauding the tax department to the tune of $4.6 million.

Under Spanish law, sentences of less than two years for first offenses are suspended, meaning that neither man will go to jail.

The court also fined Messi 2 million euros (approximately $2.2 million) and his father, 1.5 million euros (about $1.7 million).

During a four-day trial last month, the Barcelona star and his father denied any wrongdoing. Both said the player was unaware of the tax issues that led to the fraud charges.

But the state prosecutor argued that Messi and his father had failed to prove their innocence and were unable to show that the player did not have at least some knowledge of the corporate structures created to lower his tax burden in Spain.

Tax inspectors testified that they found evidence that Messi’s father used companies in countries such as Uruguay, Switzerland and Belize to reduce tax on the player’s income from image rights. Messi’s father said he was told by a legal advisor that the practice was legal.

The sentence can be appealed.

Messi is Argentina’s career-leading scorer with 55 goals in 113 international appearances. But he has lost three Copa America finals with Argentina (2007, 2015 and 2016) and announced his international retirement after last month’s penalty shootout loss to Chile.

With Barcelona, in contrast, Messi has won four Champions League titles and three Club World Cup trophies. He has also won eight Spanish league titles, scoring 453 competitive goals in 531 games, including a league-record 312.

ALSO

Germany’s Marcel Kittel earns 9th career Tour de France stage win

Lorenzo Fertitta occupied this week by details of UFC 200, not rumored sale

Patience pays off again for Santa Monica’s Kate Grace in 800-meter victory at U.S. Olympic track trials

UPDATES:

4:56 a.m.: This article has been was updated throughout with additional details.

This article was originally published at 4:34 a.m.