A brother of World Cup winner Paul Pogba was sentenced Thursday by a Paris criminal court to three years in prison — two of which are suspended — in an extortion and kidnapping case.
Mathias Pogba had already spent time in detention and the remainder of the sentence will be served under house arrest with electronic monitoring. This sentence is in line with the prosecution’s request. His lawyer said he would appeal the ruling.
The case at the Paris criminal court took place without the former Manchester United and Juventus player.
A judge had ordered Mathias Pogba and five other men to stand trial following an investigation into whether Pogba was the target of extortion by his brother Mathias and childhood friends in 2022.
Mathias went on trial last month “for the offenses of attempted extortion and criminal conspiracy.”
The five others — identified by their first names only — demanded 13 million euros ($13.6 million) from the France midfielder, who was held up at gunpoint by hooded men in March 2022. The defendants repeatedly intimidated Pogba, claiming he should have supported them after he became an international soccer star. They were accused of extortion, abduction and confinement to facilitate a crime, as well as criminal conspiracy.
Roushdane K., suspected of masterminding the blackmail, was sentenced to eight years in prison. The others also received jail terms.
According to reports in French media, the court also found that Paul Pogba had suffered economic losses of 197,000 euros ($204,000) and moral losses of 50,000 euros ($52,000). It ordered all the defendants except Mathias Pogba to jointly pay this sum to the former Juve player.
During the investigation, Paul said he paid 100,000 euros ($104,000) to the organized group including his brother.
The case became public after Mathias Pogba posted threats on social media to share “explosive” revelations about his brother, fellow French star Kylian Mbappé and Paul Pogba’s agent Rafaela Pimenta. Mathias was also a soccer player who spent most of his career with lower-tier teams in Europe.