Former Peruvian president sentenced to fourth prison term

eru's supreme court on Wednesday sentenced ex-President Alberto Fujimori to six years in prison for authorizing illegal wiretaps and bribing congressmen and journalists.

Fujimori, who was president from 1990 to 2000, also will pay fines of more than 24 million new soles (U.S. $8.4 million) to the state and 3 million new soles (U.S. $1 million) to the victims of the wiretaps, the court said.

The disgraced former president pleaded guilty to the charges Monday.

The sentencing marked the conclusion of fourth and final case that Fujimori faced since being extradited to Peru from Chile in 2007.

According to prosecutors, in 1990, Fujimori and his then-spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, used public funds to set up surveillance centers to intercept phone conversations of people deemed a threat to his rule.

In 1999, in the run-up to a controversial campaign for a third term, Fujimori ordered Montesinos to buy a television broadcaster and a newspaper to push the party line, prosecutors said.

A third set of charges that Fujimori admitted to Monday dealt with the bribery of members of Peru's congress.

Shining Path guerrillas who carried out terrorist attacks. But he had an authoritarian streak that led to accusations of human rights abuses and corruption.