Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has entered La Santé prison Tuesday to serve a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy tied to the illegal financing of his 2007 presidential bid, marking a dramatic fall for the once-charismatic leader who shaped Europe's political landscape.

Sarkozy, 70, arrived at the notorious Parisian facility hand-in-hand with wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, his sons and grandchildren trailing in a show of solidarity amid chants of "Nicolas, Nicolas" and the Marseillaise from hundreds of supporters. He bid farewell with a social media post proclaiming his innocence and sorrow for a "humiliated" France, vowing truth's triumph despite "crushing" costs.

The conviction, handed down last month by a Paris appeals court, stems from a probe into €150,000 funneled from Libyan intermediaries under Muammar Gaddafi—funds prosecutors say Sarkozy solicited for his successful run against Ségolène Royal. He and 13 others were found guilty of organized embezzlement, with Sarkozy receiving the maximum: three years behind bars (two suspended under electronic tagging) and a €100,000 fine. His appeal failed, upholding the ruling's immediate effect.

Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012 amid the financial crisis and EU debt woes, decried the verdict as "vengeance" from political foes. "It's not a former president locked up... it's an innocent person," he wrote, echoing claims of a "hate-filled" plot.

The case, probing shadowy deals with Tripoli, has dogged him since 2012, intersecting with other scandals like influence-peddling.

Sarkozy becomes France's first ex-head of state jailed since WWII traitor Philippe Pétain. Security will be tight at La Santé, a high-profile inmate hub. Rights groups like Amnesty International decry the sentence as proportionate, but allies slam it as judicial overreach in a polarized republic.