French court sentences ex-Saint-Étienne mayor Gaël Perdriau to four years in prison over sextape blackmail

Immediate return to prison

The Lyon Court of Appeal ordered the immediate incarceration of Gaël Perdriau on 10 September 2026, upholding a five-year prison sentence with one year suspended for political blackmail. The former conservative mayor of Saint-Étienne was also sentenced to a 50,000-euro fine and a 10-year ban on running for public office, doubling the five-year civic ineligibility penalty issued at his first trial. The court issued an immediate committal order, sending the 54-year-old politician back into custody after he had already served two months following his initial conviction in December 2025. Judges convicted Perdriau of criminal conspiracy, public blackmail, and the embezzlement of public funds through fictitious municipal subsidies paid to two associations. Perdriau protested the decision directly in the courtroom upon signing the official committal documents.

Madam, you have just convicted an innocent man.

Origins of the extortion plot

The legal proceedings stem from a political trap set against Gilles Artigues, a centrist former lawmaker who served as first deputy mayor of Saint-Étienne. During a trip to Paris in late 2014, Artigues shared a hotel with education deputy Samy Kéfi-Jérôme, who had arranged for an escort worker to visit a room equipped with hidden cameras. Artigues was secretly recorded in January 2015 receiving an intimate massage without his consent or knowledge. The conspirators, which included mayoral chief of staff Pierre Gauttieri and instigator Gilles Rossary-Lenglet, used the recorded footage from 2016 onward to neutralize Artigues' political influence in the Loire department. Perdriau acknowledged using an audio recording in 2018 during an angry confrontation, though he maintained he never commissioned the filming.

I have suffered a great deal, and I come out of these years very tired and very dejected.

Rulings for the co-conspirators

The appellate court also handed down sentences for the other key figures involved in the blackmail ring following hearings held in June 2026. Gilles Rossary-Lenglet, who edited the video footage, received a four-year prison term with two years suspended, modifying his initial first-instance sentence of four years with one year suspended. Former education deputy Samy Kéfi-Jérôme, who appealed only his conviction for receiving embezzled funds, was sentenced to a 40,000-euro fine and a five-year ban on holding public office. Pierre Gauttieri, the former chief of staff who admitted organizing the operation at the mayor's request during the investigation, declined to appeal his December 2025 conviction. Following that first ruling, the court had ordered provisional execution, which stripped Perdriau of his mayoral post in Saint-Étienne.

Defense appeals to Cassation

Defense attorney Jean-Félix Luciani announced that Perdriau will lodge an appeal before France's Court of Cassation and file an immediate application for release from custody. Luciani had argued during the June hearings that Perdriau's conduct amounted to legal threats rather than criminal blackmail, an offense carrying lighter penalties under the French penal code. The scandal became public on 26 August 2022 after an investigative report published by Mediapart detailed the existence of the compromising video. Following the verdict, Artigues stated outside the courtroom that he hoped the heavy penalty would deter other elected officials from attempting to destroy political rivals. All four main figures linked to the Saint-Étienne town hall scheme are now serving criminal sentences.