Marine Le Pen can run in 2027 presidential race despite conviction

An appeals court in France on Tuesday upheld the embezzlement conviction of conservative former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, shortening a ban on her running for elected office, although requiring her to wear an ankle monitor for a year, paving the way for her to run for president in 2027.

France’s Paris Criminal Court first found Le Pen guilty of embezzlement in 2025, accusing her and other members of her conservative National Rally party of using millions of dollars in EU funds to help France’s domestic political work. Le Pen denies any wrongdoing.

Le Pen was initially sentenced to five years in prison, two years’ suspension and three years’ house arrest. In the French system, the two-year postponement serves as a warning, while Le Pen is expected to remain under house arrest for three years. His sentence also included a five-year ban from running for political office, barring him from running in France’s 2027 presidential election.

But on Tuesday, the appeals court ruled that Le Pen’s sentence would be reduced to three years, with two years suspended and the remaining year under house arrest, according to a court statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

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The decision also reduced his ban from running for office to 45 months; It is considered that 30 of this period has been postponed. Given that the court considered the restraining order to be active from the first sentencing in March 2025, the ruling means Le Pen can run for office with immediate effect.

But if he were to decide the presidential race, he would have to do so while serving a sentence of house arrest, a possibility he already doubted.

“You understand that if I am allowed to run for office but am effectively prevented from campaigning freely, that will not be possible,” he said. He told the French media Wednesday.

Le Pen, along with 11 other associates, was convicted of a series of crimes related to the misuse of public funds. Le Pen was found guilty of misuse of public funds and complicity in the misuse of public funds.

“The court found that an organization had been established by the European Parliament to allow National Front (later National League) MPs to cover the wages of their parliamentary assistants, but that its activities had no connection with the duties of its own MPs and that they actually worked for the national political party,” a press release from the Paris Court of Appeal said. The statement was included.

French President Emmanuel Macron held a press conference in London, England, on July 10, 2025. (Leon Neal)

In the discharge, it was claimed that the defendants had embezzled 2.8 million Euros and the court ordered them to repay this money as compensation.

Le Pen admitted that some staff who were paid as EU staff were sent to local jobs in France. requested this was just a mistake and not part of a plan to divert EU funds to the National Rally party as claimed.

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Jordan Bardella (L), president of the French right-wing party National Rally (RN), and Marine Le Pen, president of the National Rally parliamentary group, embrace while attending the RN party’s “La fete champetre” event in Lievin, northern France, on July 4, 2026. (SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the Associated Press, Le Pen immediately went from the courthouse to the National Rally headquarters to determine the party’s future plans. He is expected to address the country at a press conference or interview on Tuesday night.

According to Reuters, the woman’s legal team at the courthouse said, “We are evaluating the decision as a whole. We will make another statement. We are partially satisfied.”

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Fox News Digital has contacted representatives of the National Rally and the Paris appeals court for further comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.