Italian Designers Dolce And Gabbana Convicted Of Tax Evasion, Sentenced To Prison

Iconic fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are facing prison time after being sentenced in Italy on Wednesday for failing to pay millions euros to the Italian government.

The two failed to declare 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in income, BBC.com reports.

Both Dolce and Gabbana were sentenced to one year and eight months in prison. They must also pay a fine of 500,000 euros along with what they owe the Italian government in taxes. But their lawyer, Massimo Dinoia, said they will appeal the sentence along with the accompanying fines and prison time.

"Dolce and Gabbana will not go to jail now or ever," Dinoia said.

Prosecutor Laura Pedio said the two cheated Italy out of millions of taxes by failing to tell authorities about a company they set up in Luxembourg called Gado. The investigation into their finances began around six years ago and was part of a government crackdown on tax evasion, CNN.com says.

"I'm very satisfied with the sentence. It was a very elaborate (use of an offshore company) that appeared legal, but was illegal," Pedio said."This time it's serious, complicated, sophisticated tax fraud crime."

Prosecutors said that the men both evaded 416 million euros each as well as another 200 million through their Luxembourg company.

The have denied the charges.

According to Time.com, the case returned to court after two years ago, a judge threw out the first tax evasion and fraud case against the two. The high court of Italy later decided the pair could be prosecuted for tax evasion but not fraud.