A French court found Marine Le Pen guilty on Monday in an embezzlement case but didn’t immediately say what her sentence might be and how it might impact the far-right leader’s political future.
Le Pen, sitting in the front row in the Paris court, showed no immediate reaction as the chief judge read the verdict.
The judge also handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of her party who, like her, previously served as elected lawmakers in the European Parliament.
Le Pen and her co-defendants face up to 10 years in prison. They can appeal, which would lead to another trial.
The biggest concern for Le Pen is that the court may declare her ineligible to run for office “with immediate effect” — even if she appeals.
That could prevent her from running for president in 2027. She has described such scenario as a “political death.”
Le Pen and 24 other officials from her National Rally party were accused of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc’s regulations.
Le Pen and her co-defendants denied wrongdoing.
Le Pen, 56, was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party’s electoral support has grown in recent years.
Facing up to 10 years in prison, Le Pen seizes the trial as a political stage where a guilty verdict could derail her presidential ambitions and reshape her future.
Jordan Bardella: Le Pen’s successor
During the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024, she argued that ineligibility “would have the effect of depriving me of being a presidential candidate" and disenfranchising her supporters.
“There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election,” she told the panel of three judges.
If Le Pen cannot run in 2027, her seeming natural successor would be Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 29-year-old protege who succeeded her at the helm of the party in 2021.
Le Pen denied accusations she was at the head of “a system” meant to siphon off EU parliament money to benefit her party, which she led from 2011 to 2021. She argued instead that it was acceptable to adapt the work of the aides paid by the European Parliament to the needs of the lawmakers, including some highly political work related to the party, which was called the National Front at the time.
Hearings showed that some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen’s bodyguard — who was once her father's bodyguard — as well as her personal assistant.
Prosecutors requested a two-year prison sentence and five years of ineligibility for Le Pen.
Le Pen said she felt they were “only interested” in preventing her from running for president.
The trial could potentially be damaging for Le Pen, who, if found guilty, risks being barred from public office for several years.
