Soccer Star Lionel Messi and Father Receive Prison Sentences, but Won’t Serve Time

A Barcelona court on July 6 sentenced soccer star Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in prison for tax fraud--but they won’t actually serve time.
Soccer Star Lionel Messi and Father Receive Prison Sentences, but Won’t Serve Time
FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi, left, arrives at a court to answer questions in a tax fraud case in Gava, near Barcelona, Spain, on Sept. 27, 2013. AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
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A Barcelona court on July 6 sentenced soccer star Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in prison for tax fraud--but they won’t actually serve time.

Messi, 29, and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, were found guilty of three counts of defrauding the tax department of 4.1 million euros ($4.6 million).

They are accused of using offshore companies in Belize and Uruguay to reduce tax on Messi’s income from image rights from 2007 to 2009. Messi’s father argued that he was told by a legal adviser that the practice was legal.

Because their sentences are less than two years, they are suspended and neither Messi will go to jail.

Messi was fined 2 million euros ($2.2 million), while his father was fined 1.5 million euros ($1.66 million).

During the trial, which lasted four days, Messi and his father denied any wrongdoing, and both said the soccer player did not know about the tax problems that led to fraud.

The sentence can be appealed.

Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and his father Jorge Horacio Messi inside the court during the third day of the trial on June 2, 2016, in Barcelona, Spain. (Alberto Estevez - Pool/Getty Images)
Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and his father Jorge Horacio Messi inside the court during the third day of the trial on June 2, 2016, in Barcelona, Spain. Alberto Estevez - Pool/Getty Images