Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong faced a nine-year prison term in a retrial of a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye.
Special prosecutor Park Young-soo's team asked the court to sentence Vice Chairman Lee to nine years in prison in a decision hearing held at the Seoul High Court on Dec. 30.
Vice Chairman Lee faces charges of bribing the former president's longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, in order to get government help in succeeding his father the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee and securing control of Samsung Group.
Lee was initially sentenced to five years in prison in 2017 but freed the following year after an appellate court reduced the term to two and a half years, suspended for four years.
Prosecutors said Lee deserves nine years in prison, given Samsung's position and the example his imprisonment would set for the nation in the retrial.
Meanwhile, former Future Strategy Office Chief Choi Ji-sung, former Vice Chief Jang Choong-ki and former Samsung Electronics CEO Park Sang-jin were sentenced to seven years in prison, respectively. Former Samsung Electronics executive director Hwang Sung-soo was sentenced to five years in prison.