Offbeat | Romania: court affirms prison term for chicken bribes

A court has upheld the prison sentence of a former Romanian lawmaker known as “the chicken baron” who was convicted of bribing voters with 60 tons of packaged, ready-to-fry meat.
The top court of appeal rejected the appeal of Florin Popescu, who went on trial in 2014, a court official said last week, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Popescu bought 60 tons of chicken for 485,000 lei (USD120,000) for his campaign for another term as local council chairman in June 2012 elections. He protested he had not even eaten “a chicken wing.”
Popescu later won a Parliament seat, but resigned on March 2.
It’s not unusual for Romanian politicians to hand out oil and flour to voters in rural areas.