Ex Czech Defender Repka Gets Two-Year Sentence For Fraud

Former Czech footballer Tomas Repka, who played for Fiorentina and West Ham, was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for fraud.

An appeals court added nine months to the 15-month sentence originally handed down in February against Repka, 45, for selling a Mercedes Benz car that he had leased.

Court president Petr Benes said he saw no reason why the former football star should receive less than the minimum two-year sentence for such crimes.

The court handed down its ruling in the absence of Repka, “who had been more optimistic regarding the result,” his lawyer Jaroslav Jankrle said.

Repka sold the car in December 2016 for 1.2 million koruna (46,760 euros, $52,000).

Last year, he was sentenced to six months in prison for publishing a fake escort girl ad with the photo and phone number of his ex-wife, a sentence that was later changed to a period of work in the public interest.

In 2015 and 2016, Repka received a suspended sentence for drunk driving, and a public interest work sentence for failing to pay his ex-wife alimony.

The defender won 46 caps for the Czech national team from 1993 to 2001, but also racked up 18 red cards over the course of his career when he lost his temper on the pitch.

AFP