Ary Chalus, the president of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, was sentenced by the Paris correctional court to two years in prison with a suspended sentence, a fine of 100,000 euros, and a five-year period of ineligibility for embezzlement of public funds. The five-year ineligibility period for the former mayor of Baie-Mahault is not subject to provisional enforcement. If he decides to appeal, he will be considered innocent until a possible definitive sanction and may retain his position until then. "It is very likely that an appeal will be filed in the coming days," said Samuel Sauphanor, Ary Chalus's lawyer, after the hearing. The sentence is slightly less severe than the one requested by the National Financial Prosecution during the trial last June, which recommended that he be immediately removed from his position due to the seriousness of the facts. However, the court took into account the good faith of Ary Chalus, who has already repaid nearly 60,000 euros. The judges found that Ary Chalus illegally used the envelope of approximately 5,000 euros provided to him each month by the National Assembly for his duties as a deputy. In addition, invoices already paid by the National Assembly were paid a second time by the city of Baie-Mahault. Finally, the employment of his daughter as a parliamentary assistant was considered partially fictitious by the court. Ary Chalus’s daughter was sentenced to six months in prison with a suspended sentence, a fine of 20,000 euros, and a period of ineligibility of years. This is not the first time that Ary Chalus, 64, has faced the justice system: in May 2025, the Basse-Terre Court of Appeal had sentenced him to two years in prison with a suspended sentence for abuse of trust and exceeding the limit of his campaign account during the regional elections in 2015. However, this new judicial development could mark the end of his political career: since losing his stronghold of Baie-Mahault in the last municipal elections, the presidency of the Guadeloupe Regional Council is Ary Chalus's last mandate. Continuing on the same topic, Ary and Natalia Chalus were condemned by the Paris correctional court, found guilty of embezzling public funds. The case highlights ongoing scrutiny of public officials in France and the legal consequences of financial misconduct in political roles.