© David Gadd/Allstar/Sportsphoto LtdSilvio Berlusconi and his co-defendants were also told to pay damages provisionally set at €10m.
Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to four years' jail by an Italian court on Friday at the end of a lengthy trial for tax fraud related to the acquisition of TV rights by his company Mediaset - but it remains unlikely he will ever see a prison cell.
Under the Italian legal system, the country's former prime minister will be entitled to two appeals before a definitive sentence. Berlusconi's sentence will also be reduced to one year under a 2006 measure that stripped three years off sentences for crimes committed before that date.
Berlusconi was also banned from public office for five years and ordered to pay €10m (£8.3m) to the Italian tax office, measures that would take effect if his conviction is upheld by the two appeals.
Frank Agrama, the US-based manager who is accused of selling TV rights to Mediaset at inflated prices, was sentenced to three years, while chairman Fedele Confalonieri, who was also on trial, was acquitted. Two other employees of Berlusconi's firms were also found guilty.
Prosecutors alleged some of the funds paid were then siphoned back to companies controlled by Berlusconi to avoid taxes. In his ruling, judge Edoardo D'Avossa, wrote that Berlusconi possessed a "natural capacity to commit crime, as shown by his pursuit of the criminal plan."
"This is a political, intolerable sentence," said Berlusconi, who has long accused Italian magistrates of waging war against him through the courts. "We cannot go on like this."
The six-year trial suffered frequent delays as Berlusconi sought to introduce measures while prime minister that would grant him immunity from prosecution.
Berlusconi's indictment in a parallel case known as Mediatrade - which deals with similar offences committed at a different time - was previously dropped.
The sentence comes days after Berlusconi, 76, formally announced he would not seek re-election as prime minister in elections due next year. Berlusconi resigned from office in November 2011 - his third spell as prime minister - weakened by scandals and the economic crisis engulfing Italy.
Berlusconi has beaten three previous convictions for financial crimes, twice on appeal and once thanks to the statute of limitations. In total Berlusconi has faced 33 trials. Last year, his trial for allegedly bribing British lawyer David Mills was timed out by the statute of limitations before it reached a verdict.
"There is about a year to go before the statute of limitations takes effect in the Mediaset case, so they may get to a conclusive verdict," said Marco Travaglio, an Italian journalist critical of Berlusconi. "The fine and the ban on public office will only take effect after the final appeal, but if he is given a conclusive conviction, he will have to leave parliament," he added. "In Italy, you go to jail only if you receive three years, so if the sentence is cut to one, Berlusconi will not go to jail."
Berlusconi's lawyer Niccolò Ghedini described the sentence as "absolutely incredibile".
Berlusconi is also on trial in Milan accused of paying an underage prostitute. The case revolves around Karima El-Mahroug, also known as Ruby Heartstealer, who attended parties at Berlusconi's Milan mansion in 2010 aged 17.
The trial is expected to end by the end of this year. Mahroug said in a TV interview this week that she did not have sex with Berlusconi. Asked if Berlusconi had asked to have sex with her, she replied: "In an explicit manner, no."
She confirmed that female guests at Berlusconi's parties danced in a risqué fashion. Three associates of Berlusconi are on trial separately for procuring prostitutes for the former prime minister.
The PTB love this sh...t! The public sucks it in as something important and is of course a total distraction from issues that are important to the welfare of the whole.