The Barcelona Argentine player Javier Mascherano has accepted a one-year prison sentence for defrauding 1.5 million euros from the tax authorities and has asked the Barcelona Court to suspend the prison sentence or replace it with a fine of 21,600 euros.
In an "in voce" verdict, the eighth section of the Barcelona Court has sentenced the player to one year in prison in a trial that lasted just ten minutes and in which Mascherano accepted the one-year prison sentence agreed upon with the Public Prosecutor's Office and the State Legal Department, after returning the defrauded amount to the tax authorities.
The sentence condemns Mascherano to one year in prison for two offenses against the tax authorities in the years 2011 and 2012 and imposes a fine of 815,000 euros, in addition to prohibiting him from obtaining public subsidies and tax incentives while serving the sentence.
Mascherano's defense, represented by lawyers David Aineto and Diego Artacho, has requested that the prison sentence be replaced by a fine of 21,600 euros and, if not, that his entry into prison be suspended, a measure that courts often grant in the absence of a criminal record.
Replacing the sentence with a fine allows for the expeditious cancellation of the player's criminal record, while in the case of suspension, the defendant would risk entering prison if he commits a new offense within the next two years.