Northern League founder and former leader Umberto Bossi | Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images Founder of Italy’s Northern League receives prison sentence for fraud The influential former politician was found guilty of misusing party funds for private purposes.

Umberto Bossi, the founder and former leader of Italy's far-right Northern League, was sentenced to two years and three months in jail on Monday after being found guilty of using party funds to cover private expenses, Reuters reported.

Bossi, who no longer holds political office but has remained an active voice in Italian politics, was sentenced by a court in Milan. His son Renzo and former Northern League treasurer Francesco Belsito were also found guilty and sentenced to 18 months and six months, respectively.

The ruling follows the conviction of another family member, Bossi's son Riccardo, as part of the same case in 2016.

The longtime driving force behind the Northern League, a formerly secessionist party rooted in Italy's industrial north and known for its anti-immigrant rhetoric, resigned as party leader in 2012 amid allegations of corruption, ending a decades-long tenure during which he had sometimes acted as kingmaker in Italian politics.

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