Judges sitting at the Paris Correctional Court ruled that the cash from the late Libyan dictator helped Sarkozy, now 70, with his electioneering.
It followed a three-month trial that ended in April, and which also involved 11 other defendants, including three of Sarkozy’s former ministers.
Sarkozy was acquitted of "receiving stolen public funds" and "passive corruption".
But he has been handed the maximum sentence possible for conspiring with former ministers including ex-chief of staff, Claude Guéant, now 80, who was found guilty of "passive bribery, forgery, and influence peddling."
Any appeal by Sarkozy will not alter his forthcoming prison sentence, the Judge said.
He will instead be given up to a month to prepare for life in a cell, so was free to go home today, September 25.
He will also have to pay a fine of €100,000 (£87,000), while the date for the start of his jail term is being set.
Guéant was sentenced to six years in prison, but the court took into account the 80-year-old’s ill health, which was "incompatible with incarceration".
Guéant was also fined Euro 250,000, while Brice Hortefeux, another former Sarkozy minister, was sentenced to two years wearing an electronic bracelet.
The historic judgment against a former President of France follows Judge Nathalie Gavarino saying Sarkozy’s crimes were "exceptionally serious".
She ruled that Sarkozy was guilty of having "allowed his close associates to act with a view to obtaining financial support from the Libyan regime".
It is the first time that a former French head of state has been found guilty of trying to use foreign money in such a manner.
Brice Hortefeux, 67 and another senior Sarkozy minister, were also found guilty of "criminal conspiracy".
Prosecutors proved that Sarkozy’s "closest aides" used the money from Muammar Gaddafi to fund his election campaign in 2007.
Throughtout the trial, Sarkozy had blamed "liars and crooks" for the accusations, while denying that the cash was used to fund his election to head of state in 2007.
"You will never find a single cent from Libya in the campaign," Sarkozy insisted.
But prosecutors proved he had a "corruption pact" with Gaddafi, who led Libya up until his assassination in 2011.
Evidence included a note from the late Lebanese arms dealer Zaid Takieddine – who is a relative of George Clooney’s wife, Amy Clooney – saying he regularly delivered cash to Sarkozy aides in suitcases.
Takieddine was found de@d in Beirut two days ago, at the age of 75, and was allegedly the principal middleman in the transfer of laundered cash.
Takieddine was a defendant in the trial, but was on the run in Lebanon, which does not extradite its own citizens.
It was alleged that Sarkozy accepted around $50million from oil-rich Libya in all.
Throughtout the trial, Sarkozy had blamed "liars and crooks" for the accusations, while denying that the cash was used to fund his election to head of state in 2007.
"You will never find a single cent from Libya in the campaign," Sarkozy insisted.
But prosecutors proved he had a "corruption pact" with Gaddafi, who led Libya up until his assassination in 2011.
Evidence included a note from the late Lebanese arms dealer Zaid Takieddine – who is a relative of George Clooney’s wife, Amy Clooney – saying he regularly delivered cash to Sarkozy aides in suitcases.
Takieddine was found de@d in Beirut two days ago, at the age of 75, and was allegedly the principal middleman in the transfer of laundered cash.
Takieddine was a defendant in the trial, but was on the run in Lebanon, which does not extradite its own citizens.
It was alleged that Sarkozy accepted around $50million from oil-rich Libya in all.
In turn, the North African country wanted to get rid of its pariah status after being held responsible for atrocities such as the Lockerbie Bombing, which saw 270 k!lled when PanAm Flight 103 was brought down over Scotland in 1988.
Sarkozy has already been definitively convicted of bribing a judge in a separate case, and of illegal campaign funding in another one.
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