He came to the job vowing to fight corruption.
On Thursday, Michael Applebaum left a Montreal courtroom in handcuffs, heading to a year in jail and two years of probation for taking bribes before coming to office.
Applebaum, 54, took power in November 2012, but less than seven months later he was arrested and indicted on14 charges that included fraud, conspiracy, break of trust and corruption in municipal affairs.
This January he was convicted on eight corruption-related charges linked to real estate deals between 2006 and 2012 while he was a borough mayor.
Prosecutors said he had extorted about $60,000 in bribes from developers.
Since his arrest he has maintained his innocence, claiming he was set up by his former chief of staff.
On Thursday, he told the judge, “I guarantee, to you and my family, that in the future, that I will be a better person when I come out.”
Applebaum was the first Anglophone to serve as Montreal’s mayor since 1912 and was the first Jew ever to hold the post.
Applebaum was raised the the suburb of Ville Saint-Laurent, worked at his family’s shoe store at 13 and opened a clothing boutique at 18.
He later took over the shoe store and became a real estate agent.
He became active in local politics in 1994 and was promoted to the Montreal Executive Committee by Mayor Gerald Tremblay in 2009.
When Tremblay resigned under a cloud in 2012 after his party was accused to taking kickbacks, Applebaum, running as an independent, won a close vote to become mayor, vowing not to seek re-election.
With files from CP, CBC, Montreal Gazette.
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