A local court has jailed Choi Soon-sil, a friend of ousted former president Park Geun-hye and the woman at the heart of the massive corruption scandal that rocked the country... to 20 years behind bars. <br />Shin Dong-bin, the chairman of the country's fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group,... was handed a two-and-a-half year jail sentence for his role in the scandal. <br />Lee Jeong-yeon reports. <br /> The Seoul Central District Court ruled this afternoon that Choi Soon-sil will have to serve 20 years in prison, pay 17 million dollars' worth of fines and forfeit almost 7 million dollars more. The announcement came around 4:30, over two hours past the scheduled time.<br />Choi's sentence is five years shorter than what was demanded by state prosecutors, but it's the heaviest sentence among the people involved in the corruption scandal.<br /> Choi is a long-time confidante of former President Park Geun-hye,... who was removed from office last year for corruption.<br />She's accused of meddling in state affairs even though she held no official post in the Park administration, and was charged with 18 counts of corruption.<br /> The court also acknowledged as bribes the money she coerced businesses into paying to two non-profit organizations she controlled.<br /> Choi's sentencing, not open to the public, could provide hints about the sentencing of Park Geun-hye, which is scheduled for late March.<br /> Also out today... a ruling on Ahn Chong-bum, the former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination under Park, who was involved in Choi's influence peddling. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison, a little longer than was expected, with a fine of 92 thousand dollars.<br /> In the case of Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin,... he was charged with paying Choi more than 6 million dollars in bribes... plus donations by his company to her foundations. He was sentenced to 2-and-a-half years in prison and was taken into custody immediately in court.<br /> As for the former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, Woo Byung-woo -- his sentencing, originally planned for Wednesday, has been postponed to next Thursday to allow more time for reviewing documents. He is charged with concealing the corruption scandal.<br />Lee Jeong-yeon, Arirang News <br />
