Lyon, France – December 1, 2025 – In a verdict that reverberated through France's political landscape, the Lyon criminal court on Monday declared Saint-Étienne Mayor Gaël Perdriau "entirely guilty" of orchestrating a sordid blackmail scheme involving a secretly filmed sex tape, marking a dramatic end to a scandal that has gripped the eastern industrial city for over three years. Presiding Judge Brigitte Vernay delivered the ruling with stark clarity, emphasizing the "extreme gravity of the facts," the breach of public trust, and the "duty of exemplarity, dignity, and representation" expected of elected officials.
Perdriau, a 53-year-old former member of the conservative Les Républicains (LR) party, was sentenced to five years in prison — four years to be served immediately, with one year suspended — along with a €50,000 fine, a five-year ban on holding public office effective immediately, and a prohibition on possessing firearms. The immediate ineligibility clause forces Perdriau to vacate his mayoral seat, paving the way for an interim mayor to be elected by the city council within 15 days, ahead of the March 2026 municipal elections.
The case, often dubbed the "Sex-Tape of Saint-Étienne," centered on allegations that Perdriau masterminded a covert "honey trap" operation in early 2015 to neutralize his political rival and then-deputy, Gilles Artigues, a centrist MoDem politician and devout Roman Catholic known for his opposition to same-sex marriage. Prosecutors painted a picture of a premeditated plot laced with manipulation and humiliation, describing it as an "organization of a mafioso character" with Perdriau at its apex.
According to court documents and trial testimony, Perdriau instructed his chief of staff, Pierre Gauttieri, shortly after his 2014 election victory, to devise "a solution to keep Gilles Artigues in check," doubting the deputy's loyalty amid ambitions to challenge for the mayoralty. The scheme unfolded in a Paris hotel room on January 23, 2015, where Artigues was lured under the pretense of a professional meeting. Unbeknownst to him, a hidden camera captured intimate footage of him with a male escort hired for €1,500 by Samy Kéfi-Jérôme, then a deputy mayor under Perdriau, and his partner Gilles Rossary-Lenglet.
Rossary-Lenglet, who admitted to booking the escort and editing the raw footage into a compromising video, described the idea as a way to exploit Artigues' conservative persona against him. The video, lasting several minutes, showed Artigues in vulnerable acts, which co-conspirators later weaponized to extract concessions: Artigues was coerced into withdrawing his candidacy for a legislative seat in 2017 and abandoning his mayoral bid, enduring years of veiled threats that he believed contained even more damaging material.
Key evidence dismantling Perdriau's denials emerged from a secret 2017 audio recording made by Artigues during a confrontation. In it, Perdriau could be heard boasting about possessing a "USB stick" laden with "compromising images" and threatening limited circulation if Artigues stepped out of line: "I don't give a damn about the consequences... Once it's on the networks, it's no longer blackmail, it's an execution." This recording, played during the September 2025 trial, proved pivotal, as prosecutors argued it revealed Perdriau as the "decision-maker at every step," from greenlighting the trap to endorsing subsequent intimidation. Gauttieri, who served as Perdriau's chief of staff for a decade, corroborated this in testimony, admitting the mayor's direct involvement despite initially shielding him.
The scandal erupted publicly in August 2022 when Rossary-Lenglet, estranged from Kéfi-Jérôme and facing personal hardships, leaked details to investigative outlet Mediapart. In a bombshell report, Mediapart detailed how the video had been used to harass Artigues since 2016, driving him to contemplate suicide and shattering his political aspirations. Artigues, who had served loyally as Perdriau's first deputy, filed complaints, prompting Lyon's prosecutor's office to launch a judicial investigation.
The probe uncovered a web of seven co-defendants, including Gauttieri, Kéfi-Jérôme, and Rossary-Lenglet, all of whom received prison terms ranging from suspended sentences to four years, with fines and ineligibility bans. Notably, leaders of local associations implicated in funneling funds were acquitted.
Compounding the blackmail charges were counts of embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds. Investigators revealed that Perdriau diverted approximately €40,000 in municipal subsidies — intended for cultural and social programs — to reimburse participants in the operation, including payments to the escort and Rossary-Lenglet via intermediary associations. This financial sleight-of-hand, prosecutors argued, exemplified the "abject, infamous" fusion of public resources with private vendettas.
Perdriau, who steadfastly proclaimed his innocence throughout the two-week trial — from denying possession of the video to portraying himself as a victim of betrayal — remained stoic as the verdict was read, with faint applause echoing in the courtroom. Outside, protesters chanted "Guilty!" as he departed, and he immediately vowed to appeal, calling the decision "totally incomprehensible." However, the provisional execution of his ineligibility ensures he cannot run in 2026, regardless of the appeal's outcome. In September 2024, Perdriau had publicly pledged to relinquish his mandates "if the slightest guilt was found," a promise the court invoked to underscore his moral failing.
The fallout has been seismic for Saint-Étienne, a city of 170,000 already reeling from economic decline and urban decay. Elected in 2014 on an LR ticket, Perdriau positioned himself as a reformer, securing a second term in 2020 amid promises of revitalization. Yet the scandal eroded his support: Expelled from Les Républicains in October 2022 for employing "despicable methods," he was stripped of metropolitan presidency duties in 2022 but clung to the mayoralty, triggering the resignation of about 10 majority councilors in protest.
Local politicians across the spectrum expressed relief on Monday. Artigues described the ruling as a "relief" that would allow him to "rebuild," lamenting that Perdriau should have confessed earlier to spare the city further damage. LR figures reiterated calls for his immediate resignation, while opposition leaders decried the "system" he built, urging ethical renewal. The interim metropolitan vice-president hoped it would enable governance "without this permanent obstacle."
Nationally, the case has ignited debates on political ethics, with major media outlets labeling it a "premeditated plot" that exposes the underbelly of local power struggles. As Saint-Étienne braces for a leadership transition, the scandal serves as a cautionary tale: In the corridors of power, personal vendettas funded by taxpayers can topple even the most entrenched figures. With Perdriau's appeal pending, the city eyes a fresh start, but the scars of betrayal linger.
