BEIT-UL-MOQADDAS (AP) -- Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's eldest son will go to prison next month for illegal fundraising during his father's 1999 primary campaign after Israel's Supreme Court on Monday rejected his appeal for a more lenient sentence.

The court upheld Omri Sharon's seven-month prison sentence, said court spokeswoman Ayelet Filo. He will turn himself over to prison custody on Feb. 27, Sharon's lawyers said Monday.
Prosecutors say Sharon, 43, received more than $1.3 million from groups in Israel and overseas, far exceeding legal limits, while he oversaw some fundraising activities for his father. He was accused of setting up fictitious companies to hide the illegal contributions.
Ariel Sharon's victory in the 1999 Likud Party primary paved the way for his election as prime minister in early 2001 and his re-election two years later. Omri Sharon served as a member of parliament during that time. Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma since suffering a massive stroke in January 2006, was not indicted.
Omri Sharon pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors to falsifying corporate documents, perjury and violating party funding laws. The state dropped charges of fraud and breach of trust but demanded imprisonment on the other counts. The maximum term was five years in prison.
The court convicted Sharon less than a month later, in February 2006, despite calls for leniency following the his father's stroke. The Tel Aviv district court rejected Omri Sharon's first appeal last June, but cut his sentence from nine months to seven months. He also was fined $81,000.
Sharon's lawyers had pleaded with the court to consider the circumstances at the time of the offenses — his mother was dying from cancer, and he was a newcomer to politics who was unfamiliar with campaign finance laws.
Legal expert Moshe Negbi said that while he sympathized with Sharon's personal plight, the ruling marked an important legal precedent.
""It is the first time the legal system sends a clear message that crimes committed during a political campaign are severe, and a man needs to pay for them with his freedom,"" he told Israel Radio.