Former provincial legislator sentenced for vote buying

HARBIN -- Wang Yang, a former senior legislator in Northeast China's Liaoning province, was sentenced by a court to 16-and-a-half years in prison Wednesday for accepting bribes and vote buying.

Personal assets worth three million yuan ($441,600) held by Wang, former deputy head of the Standing Committee of Liaoning Provincial People's Congress, were confiscated, according to a statement from the Intermediate People's Court of Daqing City in Heilongjiang province.

Wang was found guilty of taking advantage of his positions to seek benefits for others and of accepting bribes totaling more than 62.91 million yuan between the end of 2006 and January 2013.

During the period, he had served as mayors or the Communist Party of China (CPC) chiefs of three cities in Liaoning.

He was also convicted of influencing an election when he was running for deputy head of the standing committee of the provincial people's congress from December 2012 to January 2013 by soliciting votes through bribery and lobbying,

The court issued a lesser punishment because Wang confessed to his crimes and returned all his illicit gains.