Berlusconi lawyer Mills found guilty of bribe

The former tax lawyer of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Britain's David Mills, was found guilty Tuesday of accepting a bribe and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.

The 600,000-dollar bribe is alleged to have come from Berlusconi, who last year passed a law making himself immune from prosecution, in return for Mills providing false evidence in two earlier trials in the late 1990s.

After the verdict and sentence were announced at a court in Milan, 64-year-old Mills issued a statement in London protesting his innocence and saying he was hopeful he would be cleared on appeal.

"I am naturally very disappointed by this verdict. I am innocent, but this is a highly political case.

"The judges have not yet given their reasons for their decision, so I cannot say how they dealt with the prosecutor's own admission that he had no proof.

"I am hopeful that the verdict and sentence will be set aside on appeal and am told that I will have excellent grounds, and have every faith in my excellent lawyer, Federico Cecconi."

Cecconi, announcing their intention to appeal, said the sentence ran "contrary to all logic and we are challenging it." More
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