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Bolivian ex-president Jeanine Anez was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison, more than a year after her arrest for an alleged plot -- dismissed as fictional by many -- to oust her rival and predecessor Evo Morales, AFP reported.

Anez, who has been held in pre-trial detention since March 2021, has consistently denounced what she calls political persecution.

The former interim leader will serve 10 years in a women's prison in La Paz, the administrative capital's First Sentencing Court announced in a decision that comes three months after her trial began.

Convicted of crimes "contrary to the constitution and a dereliction of duties," Anez was sentenced to "a punishment of 10 years" over accusations stemming from when she was a senator, before becoming president.

Prosecutors had asked for a 15-year jail sentence.

The former leader had already announced she would appeal if convicted, saying: "We will not stop there, we will go before the international justice system."

Also sentenced to 10 years were the former head of the armed forces, William Kaliman, and the former head of the police, Yuri Calderon, both of whom are on the run.

Anez still faces a separate, pending court case for sedition and other charges related to her short presidential stint.