Likud MK Omri Sharon, the 41-year-old son of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was convicted of charges related to the financing of his father's 1999 primaries campaign, after he entered a guilty plea at the outset of his trial, which opened on Tuesday.

Omri Sharon's lawyers were also expected to announce Tuesday that their client plans to retire from politics, step seen as an effort to mitigate the sentence. Under the law, the sentence could be as much as five years in prison, but the actual penalty is likely to be much lighter, legal analysts said early Tuesday.

Sharon was convicted of a number of serious violations, among them fictitious registration of corporate documents, which carries a maximum five-year term; lying under oath and violations of the election code, which are punishable by fines.

Under a plea bargain concluded on Monday, the prosecution presented an amended indictment, from which a charge of corporate fraud and breaching corporate trust will be modified to a lesser charge.

However, sides have yet to reach an agreement on Sharon's sentencing.

MK Yossi Sarid (Meretz-Yahad), after hearing of Sharon's impending resignation, said Monday night that he hoped that the senior Sharon would learn from his son's example.

If Omri Sharon leaves the Knesset as expected, Penina Rosenblum would replace him as a Likud MK.

According to the indictment, Sharon - who had been appointed by his father to run his September 1999 campaign for leadership of the Likud party - received NIS 6 million in campaign financing from corporations in Israel and abroad between July 1999 and February 2000. The prosecution says the money significantly exceeds the funding caps.

Sharon is accused of funneling the money into a company called Annex Research, which was allegedly founded for that purpose. The campaign allegedly paid most suppliers and service providers through Annex Research rather than through the Sharon camp's official bank account.

The original indictment, issued August 28, accuses Sharon of fraudulent registration of corporate documents, lying under oath and breach of corporate trust, all of which fall under the penal code. He is also accused of violating elements of the Parties Law by receiving illegal donations, receiving more money than allowed, withdrawing more money than allowed and failing to manage funds as required.

Another defendant in the case is Gavriel Manor, a Likud member who served as the general manager of Annex Research. However, a state comptroller's report last year noted that Sharon appeared to have run Annex Research's entire affairs while Manor merely signed the checks.

In order to cover up the alleged financing irregularities, Sharon is accused of instructing some suppliers and service providers to write receipts that did not fully reflect the supplies or services they provided.