FLORENCE, Italy
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi started doing community service at a center for the elderly on Friday, as a required part of his sentence for tax fraud.
Berlusconi was convicted last year of fraud and given a four-year sentence.
Three years were taken off his sentence, due to an amnesty bill passed by the Italian center-left government in 2006, and legislation approved while Berlusconi was still in office says convicted criminals over the age of 70 cannot be sent to prison.
Last month, a Milan court ruled that the former populist PM could serve the remaining year of his sentence for tax fraud valued at 370 million euros by working at least four hours a week at the center.
The 77-year-old will work at the Sacred Family Foundation center once a week.
The Sacred Family Foundation has served as a nursing home for the needy since the late 19th century and now serves around 850 people. There is also a hospital with 120 beds and a church in the facility.
Berlusconi served as prime minister on and off between 1994 and 2011.
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