Boris Becker avoids prison, gets probation

Boris Becker was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation and fined $300,000 US for tax evasion.

Prosecutors were seeking a 3 1/2-year jail sentence for the three-time Wimbledon champion, while Becker's lawyers sought probation.

Becker was accused of evading more than $1.7 million US in taxes in his native Germany from 1991-93, when he listed his place of residence in Monte Carlo, but stayed in his sister's loft in Munich.

The retired 34-year-old Becker could have received a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The former tennis star admitted to keeping an apartment in Germany 10 years ago while claiming to reside in the tax haven that is Monte Carlo.

The former tennis great's attorney, Joerg Weigell, said Becker has paid $3 million US in back taxes for 1991 through 1995, which he noted was double the amount sought by investigators.

Prosecutor Matthias Musiol claimed Becker waited until the last minute to pay and failed to admit his guilt until taken to court.

The court estimated Becker's combined income from 1991-92 at $19 million US.

Since Becker retired from the sport in 1999, he has gotten a divorce, fathered a child with a model and had a host of businesses fail.

The child with the Russian model Angela Ermakova was conceived via liaison in the broom cupboard of a London restaurant.