Las Palmas' Araujo likely to avoid jail for driving offence

MADRID (Reuters) - Las Palmas striker Sergio Ezequiel Araujo was sentenced to nine months in prison by a Spanish court on Tuesday after being found guilty of a driving offence but he is unlikely to serve time in jail.

(Reuters)

The 24-year-old Argentine was also banned from driving for two years for refusing to take a breathalyser after being stopped by police on Sept. 26.

Araujo is unlikely to go to prison because under Spanish law any sentence of under two years for a non-violent crime does not usually require a defendant without previous convictions to do so.

"Considering it's a sentence of less than two years, it is unlikely the defendant will serve jail time," a court spokeswoman said.

Araujo has made 10 La Liga appearances this season, scoring two goals to help Las Palmas to ninth in the league standings.

The Buenos Aires native impressed while on loan at Las Palmas from Boca Juniors in the 2014-15 season when he scored 24 goals in 43 appearances to help the Canary Islands-based club gain promotion to La Liga.

Las Palmas bought Araujo outright in June 2015 and he signed a five-year contract.

(Reporting by Adriana Garcia, editing by Ed Osmond)