A Paris court docket on Thursday sentenced a brother of France midfielder Paul Pogba to a three-year jail time period, with two years suspended, after convicting him in a high-profile extortion case. Mathias Pogba, the elder brother of the ex-Manchester United participant, will be capable to serve his one-year sentence at dwelling whereas sporting an digital gadget moderately than behind bars. The court docket additionally fined Paul Pogba’s brother 20,000 euros for collaborating within the tried extortion of 13 million euros ($13.5 million) from Pogba in 2022, and for placing strain on the participant, his household and his enterprise contacts to acquire the fee.
Mathias Pogba’s lawyer Mbeko Tabula mentioned the ruling was “extraordinarily harsh,” including he deliberate to enchantment.
“He is clearly in a state of shock,” he mentioned of his shopper.
“From the outset, he has maintained his innocence, saying that he was manipulated, that he was coerced, that he was pressured, that he would by no means have acted negatively in direction of his brother.”
The trial got here on prime {of professional} woes for Paul Pogba, whose profession has been removed from clean since France’s 2018 World Cup win when he scored in opposition to Croatia within the ultimate.
The 31-year-old suffered via repeated accidents and patchy kind that led to his departure from Manchester United in 2022. He returned for a second stint at Juventus, the place issues continued to canine him.
He’s serving a suspension for doping which was decreased to 18 months on enchantment and he might be free to play once more in March subsequent yr, however final month Juventus terminated his contract.
The extortion case involving six males linked to Paul Pogba has shocked the French soccer world as a result of the alleged perpetrators included three childhood associates and Pogba’s personal brother.
The 5 different defendants have been discovered responsible of extortion, sequestration and detention, in addition to participation in a legal gang, and sentenced to as much as eight years in jail, in addition to fines of between 20,000 euros and 40,000 euros.
The court docket additionally mentioned Paul Pogba had suffered financial damages price 197,000 euros and psychological damages of fifty,000 euros.
Solely the kidnapping cost was not retained, as recommended by the general public prosecutor.
Roushdane Okay., thought-about to be the mastermind behind the affair, was sentenced to eight years in jail.
Mathias was the one to go public within the case, publishing a video on social media in August 2022 promising revelations about his youthful brother that have been “more likely to be explosive”.
In a subsequent clip, Mathias accused Paul Pogba of casting an evil spell on his worldwide team-mate Kylian Mbappe via a witch physician.
Pogba instructed French investigators he had in March 2022 been “tricked by childhood associates” from the Paris suburb the place he and Mathias grew up.
He accused them of snatching him earlier than he was held at gunpoint by two hooded males with assault rifles who demanded 13 million euros for “providers rendered” and blamed him for not serving to them financially.
Pogba mentioned on the time had paid them solely 100,000 euros.
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