Reading out the verdict and sentence in the courtroom after just one day of deliberation, the judge also ruled Ben Ali and his wife would have to pay fines totalling 91 million Tunisian dinars (£40.6 million).
The judge said the verdict on other charges, relating to illegal possession of drugs and weapons, would be pronounced on June 30.
Ben Ali, who is in exile in Saudi Arabia, is being tried in absentia at the Tunis criminal court.
The court is hearing two embezzlement, money laundering and drug trafficking cases against the 74-year-old. It follows the discovery of around $27 million in jewels and cash plus drugs and weapons at two palaces outside Tunis after he flew to Saudi Arabia on Jan 14.
Saudi Arabia did not respond to an extradition request, and some Tunisians expressed frustration that he would not be present for his judgment.
Ben Ali vigorously denied the charges in a statement through his French lawyer, calling the proceedings a "shameful masquerade of the justice of the victorious." » | Monday, June 20, 2011
