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First Posted: 8/1/2013 ROME &#8212; Italy&#8217;s three-time former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for the first time in two decades of criminal prosecutions related to his media empire was definitively convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to four years in prison Thursday by the nation&#8217;s highest court.
The tensely awaited decision was described as a historical moment by opposition politicians and puts fresh pressure on Premier Enrico Letta&#8217;s fragile coalition government. He needs the support of both Berlusconi supporters and his own center-left Democratic Party to push through reforms to get Italy out of recession, and the ruling is likely to have a destabilizing impact.
Judge Antonio Esposito, in reading the court&#8217;s decision, declared Berlusconi&#8217;s conviction and prison term were &#8220;irrevocable,&#8221; though he ordered another court to review the length of a ban on public office.
Lower courts had put it at five years, but a state prosecutor recommended in its arguments this week that it be lowed to three, citing conflicts in the relevant sentencing laws.
How the government is affected by the ruling is likely to emerge in comings days. On the one side, Berlusconi supporters might withdraw support in protest, while center-left lawmakers might find it unpalatable to continue in a coalition with a party whose leader has been convicted of defrauding the state of tax income.
Beppe Grillo, the leader of the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement, declared on his blog: &#8220;Berlusconi is dead.&#8221; He compared the conviction to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that helped bring down Soviet communism.
Berlusconi is highly unlikely to actually go to prison. Three years will be shaved off as part of a general pardon for crimes committed before 2006 aimed at easing prison crowding, and it is unusual for defendants to serve sentences of only one year for a first offense, particularly at Berlusconi&#8217;s age, 76. He would likely be given the choice to serve the remaining year under house confinement or opt for social services.
Berlusconi awaited the sentence at his residence in central Rome with his lawyers, deputy party leader Angelino Alfano and his eldest daughter, Marina, all of whom were seen entering the building in the hours leading up to the announcement. He issued no immediate reaction.

Italy’s ex-premier convicted of tax fraud