After 25 years and nearly 30 trials , Italy 's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has for the first time been handed a definitive sentence by the country 's highest court . Berlusconi , who served three times as premier , was found guilty of tax fraud and given a four-year sentence , of which he will serve only one year due to an amnesty aimed at cutting down on prison overcrowding . READ MORE : Silvio 's fury at high court verdict . The high court also ordered a lower court to reconsider whether Berlusconi should be banned from public office . Prosecutors had been seeking a five-year ban , but the lower court will have to review this part of the sentence , and will probably issue a three-year ban . So what happens next ? Once the sentence goes into effect in a few days , Berlusconi will have 30 days to decide how he wants to serve the one-year sentence . Jail is n't an option given that the former premier is aged 76 , so the choice is between house arrest , and more likely , community service . Then there is the question of whether Berlusconi , a member of Italy 's Senate , is eligible for public office , now that he 's been convicted of a crime . According to Italy 's anti-corruption law , which was passed by Mario Monti 's government in late 2012 , Berlusconi will be ineligible to hold public office after he serves this sentence , independent of the outcome of the review by the lower court . The Italian Senate will need to decide when Berlusconi 's ineligibility begins . Does it apply immediately , which would result in him stepping down as a senator ? Or does it apply after the current parliamentary term ? Either way , as things stand , Berlusconi can not run for parliament for six years . Once the public office ban is reviewed and completes its judicial journey , which will take months , it too would need a Senate vote for immediate enforcement , which could ban Berlusconi from holding public office for the duration of the sentence . So what political implications does all this have on Enrico Letta 's government and Italy 's immediate political future ? The Senate vote will be the first critical step and is bound to lead to a ferocious divide in Letta 's delicate `` grand coalition '' government , which is comprised of center-left parties and Berlusconi 's center-right PdL party . Even if Berlusconi was ineligible for office , there is technically nothing to stop him leading the center-right in an election campaign without running for office . The latest example of this in Italy is Beppe Grillo , the comedian turned politician , who leads his Five Star Movement despite being banned from public office due to a conviction over a road accident . If the center-right won an election , the political office ban could be changed with a simple majority in parliament -- and with ineligibility out of the way , Berlusconi could at least technically become prime minister for a fourth time once the law is abolished . Simply put , Silvio Berlusconi is down but definitely not out . A video statement he released Thursday confirmed this and read like a call to battle and the beginning of yet another very long election campaign . We 're in uncharted territory , and what happens next politically is nearly impossible to predict . But the possible outcomes include the downfall of the government . What is certain is that in both the center-left and the center-right there will now be immense internal pressure . With some pushing for an early election as a `` referendum on Berlusconi '' -- 43 % of voters in one SWG poll released Friday believe Berlusconi is being persecuted by magistrates -- and others trying to maintain calm in order to keep the government alive in the name of national interest , it will be a question of who blinks first . The cult of Silvio Berlusconi : Why Italians keep voting for 'Il Cavaliere '
Italy 's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is given a four-year sentence for tax fraud . Comment: Berlusconi has 30 days to choose between house arrest or community service . He will be ineligible to hold public office after he serves this sentence .