Former Democratic Party(DP) leader Song Young-gil has been sentenced to two years in prison for pocketing illegal political funds. 

The Seoul Central District Court issued the ruling Wednesday, roughly a year after Song was indicted on charges of bribery and violating the political funding law.

The court found Song guilty of taking illegal political funds totaling 763 million won, or about 524-thousand U.S. dollars, from seven people through an external sponsor group between January 2020 and December 2021.

However, the court found Song not guilty of taking part in the distribution of cash envelopes worth a total of 66-point-five million won to 20 sitting DP lawmakers and regional party heads between March and April 2021.

The court decided not to admit as evidence a cellphone recording belonging to former DP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jung-geun, which initially triggered the investigation into the “cash envelope bribery scandal.”