French Ex-President Sarkozy Goes To Jail For Campaign Finance Conspiracy. Nicolas Sarkozy has made history as the first French ex-president to go to jail beginning a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund his election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The 70-year-old former leader, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, was taken to La Santé prison in Paris under heavy security. He will be held in isolation for safety reasons, in a 9-square-metre cell normally reserved for high-profile inmates. More than 100 supporters gathered outside his Paris villa after his sons, Louis and Pierre, urged people to send messages of love and solidarity. In a post on X before entering prison, Sarkozy insisted he was innocent, writing: “It is not a former president they are locking up this morning – it is an innocent man.” He said he felt “deep sorrow for a France humiliated by a will for revenge,” but added that he remained confident “truth will prevail.” Instructions: THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT