Egypt's Mubarak, 2 Sons, Draw Prison Sentences in Retrial

FILE - Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, seated, and sons Gamal, left, and Alaa are seen attending a hearing in a Cairo courtroom Sept. 14, 2013.

An Egyptian court has sentenced former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons to three years in prison each on corruption charges, in a retrial that could brand Mubarak as a convicted criminal four years after being driven from office.

Mubarak, an autocrat who ruled Egypt for 30 years, and sons Gamal and Alaa have already spent at least three years in prison on other charges. It was not clear Saturday whether the 87-year-old former president, ousted in a 2011 uprising, would spend spend further time in jail.

The case was a retrial accusing the Mubaraks of embezzling millions of dollars earmarked for the renovation of presidential palaces. Prosecutors said the money was instead used to upgrade Mubarak's private properties.

A court earlier dropped murder charges against Mubarak linked to an alleged 2011 conspiracy to kill protesters in Cairo's Tahir Square at the height of Arab Spring protests that rocked North Africa and parts of the Middle East.

Prosecutors have appealed that acquittal, and an appeals court is expected to rule within weeks.