The mayor of Tumara'a in French Polynesia Cyril Tetuanui has been given a suspended eight-month prison sentence for abusing a tendering process to build gymnasiums.
The ruling came after a trial in October over cash payments he allegedly received from a businessman who is now jailed for drugs offences.
The prosecution wanted to give him an 18-month suspended jail sentence and ban him from holding office for two years while his defence lawyer argued that he should be acquitted.
Cyril Tetuanui, mayor of Tumaraa in French Polynesia Photo: AFP
Four years ago, Cyril Tetuanui was given a suspended jail sentence and declared ineligible for public office for a year by France's highest court.
However, he didn't quit office because the court document was never sent through and the sentence lapsed.
He and his wife Lana Tetuanui had been found guilty of using municipal employees in 2002 to work on their private residence.
Shortly before his wife became a French Senator last year, a complaint was lodged with the police claiming he was on the pay roll as her assistant in her office at the assembly for 30 hours a week.
She said she had adhered to assembly rules and her husband had always accompanied her on her travels around the territory.
