Lionel Messi’s brother sentenced for possessing illegal firearm.

Matia, the Barcelona star Lionel Messi’s sibling,  received a two-and-a-half year prison sentence but instead of going to jail, he will undertake community service,National Daily gathered.

Argentine newspaper, La Capital, reports that the decision was reached through a deal with investigating prosecutors.

The firearm was found late in 2017 inside a blood-stained boat, which Matias crashed in the Parana River.

National Daily learnt that the 35-year-old was initially held under preventive arrest and later released while he recovered from a fractured jaw and other injuries in the Santa Fe province of Argentina.

Matias’ lawyer originally argued that his client crashed the boat into a sandbank and denied that he owned the gun.

This isn’t the first time Matias has had brushes with the law for allegedly illegally carrying a firearm.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s brother, who has been linked with known criminals in the past, was held for 16 hours in a prison cell for in 2015 after officers found an an unlicensed 22-caliber gun in his car.

He was also arrested in 2008 for allegedly having a loaded gun in his belt.