Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed to accept a suspended prison sentence of two years and a fine of 18.8 million euros (around 22 million U.S. dollars), according to a report from El Mundo.
This settlement comes on the heels of Ronaldo’s tax evasion case that came about in June of last year. He was accused of defrauding the tax authorities of nearly 15 million euros ($17.5 million). Authorities said that Ronaldo accepted this charge to reduce the amount he was being fined. Ronaldo denied the accusation last June multiple times, but has decided to settle the case after a long-running court battle.
The court is not requiring Ronaldo to go to jail immediately because of his clean record, El Mundo reports. However, the court reserves the right to send him to jail if it believes he is not complying with its conditions. Accepting the conditions was a way for him to finally end the year-long court battle with Spain.
Originally, Ronaldo was required to pay the entire sum upfront to the Portuguese government. But, they decided later on that financially it would not make sense to, so Ronaldo will be paying 5 million euros ($5.8 million) at the start, then will be paying the rest in fines and interest over the next few years.