Former senator Joël Guerriau at the Paris court on January 26, 2026. THOMAS PADILLA/AP
No, it was not "by accident" that Joël Guerriau served Sandrine Josso champagne mixed with a substance he claimed not to know, during a dinner at his Paris apartment on November 14, 2023. The conviction of the former senator of the centrist MoDem party to four years in prison, of which 30 months suspended, handed down Tuesday, January 27, by the Paris Criminal Court, firmly rejected the dubious defense he maintained throughout the proceedings.
The court found that Guerriau knowingly administered, without his colleague MP's knowledge, a dose of MDMA "well above recreational levels," with the intent to sexually assault or rape her. The sentence includes a five-year ban from holding public office and a mandatory treatment order. However, the court dismissed the request to add the former senator to the national sex offender registry, as had been requested by prosecutors
Considering that the defendant's personal circumstances "did not justify immediate incarceration," the court issued a deferred detention order, without immediate enforcement. As Guerriau announced his intention to appeal, he will not be imprisoned while awaiting his new trial.
