Cardinal Angelo Becciu was convicted of embezzling millions from the Vatican.
Judge Giuseppe Pignatone read the verdict on Saturday in a Vatican courtroom, which sentenced Cardinal Angelo Becciu to 5 ½ years in prison.
Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi boasted that the guilty verdict "showed we were correct."
Becciu's lawyer, Fabio Viglione, said he would appeal the sentence.
The BBC noted, "Becciu, 75, was the most senior Vatican official ever to face such charges and once seen as a papal contender himself."
In September 2020, Becciu, resigned from the Vatican's secretariat of state after being implicated in a financial scandal. Pope Francis accepted Becciu's resignation.
Becciu reportedly oversaw a multimillion-euro investment in a $380 million luxury property in London.
NBC News reported, "In the end, he was convicted of embezzlement stemming from the original investment of 200 million euros in a fund that bought into the London property, as well as for his 125,000 euro donation of Vatican money to a charity run by his brother in Sardinia. He was also convicted of using Vatican money to pay an intelligence analyst who in turn was convicted of using the money for herself."