The far-right French politician was a leading candidate to become the country’s next president, but has now been barred from running for public office for five years.

PARIS (AP) — For years, Marine Le Pen stood at the gates of power — poised, relentless and rising. She stripped the French far right of its old symbols, sanded down its roughest edges and built in its place a sleek, disciplined machine with the single goal of winning the country’s presidency.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been barred from holding office for five years after she was found guilty of embezzlement. The court’s decision ended her political dreams of running for the next French president’s post in 2027.