Lionel Messi Receives 21-Month Prison Sentence

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Materials Daily News

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

defender

Noun

dɪˈfendər

a player who must stop the other team from scoring in games such as football

He is the central defender on the team.

conviction

Noun

kənˈvɪkʃən

an official statement in a court of law that someone is guilty of a crime

Because of several previous convictions, he was given a harsher sentence.

He had a prior conviction for armed robbery.

offense

Noun

əˈfɛns

an action that breaks a rule or law

He was convicted of a serious offense.

Driving over the speed limit is considered a minor offense.

suspend

Verb

səˈspend

to cause a sentence not to be enforced as long as no further crimes are committed within a specified period

His three-month prison sentence was suspended for one year.

Exercise 2

Article

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Lionel Messi Receives 21-Month Prison Sentence

Lionel Messi is known for escaping defenders on the soccer field.

But he was not able to escape a conviction for tax fraud in Spain this week.

A court in Barcelona, Spain, sentenced the Argentinian soccer star to 21 months in prison on Wednesday.

Messi plays for Barcelona’s soccer team during the club season.

Investigators in Spain said they found evidence that Messi and his father, Jorge, hid money that should have been taxed by the Spanish government. The younger Messi earned the money from 2007 to 2009.

Tax inspectors said over $4 million of Messi’s money went to accounts in Uruguay, Switzerland, and Belize.

Messi was fined over $2 million. His father was fined about $1.5 million.

Neither man, however, is expected to spend any time in prison. In Spain, first offenses carrying sentences of less than two years are usually suspended.