Sentencing arguments are set to take place Wednesday in the corruption case for former Montreal mayor Michael Applebaum.
Applebaum was found guilty on eight corruption related charges in January.
READ MORE: Former Montreal mayor Michael Applebaum found guilty of corruption, breach of trust
The charges stem from crimes that occurred in two separate deals between 2007 and 2010 when Applebaum was mayor of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal’s largest borough.
Applebaum’s former chief of staff Hugo Tremblay was a key witness in the trial and the only one who could directly implicate Applebaum to the crimes.
Defence lawyer Pierre Teasdale told the trial in November that the Crown’s evidence was weak and depended on witnesses who testified against Applebaum to save their own skin.
The Crown alleged Applebaum accepted cash through a former aide in return for favours given to local real-estate developers and engineering firms.
READ MORE: Michael Applebaum corruption case: defence presents final arguments
During the verdict reading, Applebaum nearly collapsed after standing for more than an hour during the reading of the verdict.
He stumbled and one of his lawyers had to catch him before he fell.
Applebaum served as interim Montreal mayor between November 2012 and June 2013.
— with files from The Canadian Press