The older brother of former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has been sentenced to three years in prison, with two years suspended, after being found guilty of attempting to blackmail the French footballer.
Matías Pogba, who was also fined €20,000 (£16,500), will avoid spending time behind bars and will instead spend one year wearing an electronic bracelet.
Five other men were found guilty of extortion and other crimes and were sentenced to sentences of between four and eight years in a Paris court on Thursday.
Paul Pogba, 31, said he was “tricked by childhood friends” who held him at gunpoint in 2022 and demanded €13m (£10.8m). He said he paid them 100,000 euros (£82,600).
Mathias Pogba's lawyer, Mbeko Tabula, told RMC Sport that the ruling was “very harsh” and said: “I think we will appeal.”
The other five defendants were sentenced to the following sentences: Rashdan K, eight years, Boubacar C, four years, two suspended, Adama C, five years, Mamadou M, five years and 12 months suspended, and Mashikor K, four years and three suspended.
Last year, Paul Pogba told Al Jazeera that he had done just that He considered retiring from football due to the blackmail attempt.
“When there is money, you have to be careful,” he said. “Money changes people. It can break up families. It can create war.”
