Imprisoned former Taoyuan deputy commissioner Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) is not to serve any additional time behind bars for three fresh corruption convictions handed down in May, the High Court said.
Following the court’s approval of a reduced sentencing request from prosecutors on Monday last week, Yeh, imprisoned since 2016 for receiving more than NT$20 million (US$640,615) in bribes from property developers, is to serve 17-and-a-half years on six separate convictions.
With time served, Yeh, who initially faced 22 and-a-half-years in prison, would be released in 2033 at the latest.
Photo: CNA
In a statement, the court said it had agreed to reduce the 75-year-old Yeh’s sentence based on the principles of proportionality and corrective treatment.
Yeh held several high-ranking positions during the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from 2008 to 2016.
In 2013, he was tapped to replace Lee Chao-chih (李朝枝) as Taoyuan County deputy commissioner, after Lee resigned amid a scandal involving land speculation and improper expropriations.
Yeh was first convicted in 2016, after he was found guilty of receiving bribes from Farglory Group founder Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄) in exchange for government contracts and land deals in Linkou District (林口), New Taipei City, while serving as head of the Construction and Planning Agency (CPA) in 2011.
He received a further two convictions in 2019 for corruption-related offenses involving Chao’s bid to build a public housing project in Taoyuan’s Bade District (八德), as CPA head and as Taoyuan deputy commissioner in 2014.
In May, Yeh was found guilty of a further three counts of corruption in relation to his handling of special allowance funds allocated for him when he was CPA head and deputy Taoyuan commissioner.
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