Seoul, Jan 18 (IANS): A Seoul court on Monday sentenced Lee Jae-yong, heir apparent of South Korea's biggest family-run conglomerate the Samsung Group, to two years and a half in prison for corruption charges, including a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye.

The Seoul High Court gave Lee, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., the prison term for bribing Park and her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, to win government support for a smooth transition of managerial power at the tech giant, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Park was later impeached and ousted for corruption and abuse of power.

Lee, who was present at the hearing on Monday, was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was handed down, less than three years after he was released on a suspended sentence.

The 52-year-old Lee was charged in February 2017 with giving 29.8 billion won ($27.4 million) worth of bribes and promising to give more.