Samsung Heir Gets 5 Years for Scandal That Toppled a President

Jay Y. Lee is set to spend the next five years in prison, one of the harshest sentences handed to a South Korean chaebol executive, after a court convicted him of bribing his way to greater control of the Samsung empire his family founded.

The trial, part of a bigger corruption scandal that brought down South Korea’s president, transfixed the nation as it shone a spotlight on the close ties between chaebol business groups and the political elite. Prosecutors had sought 12 years in prison for the 49-year-old billionaire, whose lawyer said he would appeal. Any sentence of more than 3 years can’t be suspended.