A former senior legislator from east China's Jiangsu Province was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes from companies, a court ruled Thursday.

Wang Wulong, former deputy chief of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress, the provincial legislature, was found guilty of asking for or accepting bribes totaling 6.83 million yuan (US$940,000) from two companies from early 1995 to June 2006.

Wang was also deprived of his political rights for life and all his property was confiscated, according to the final verdict handed down by the Higher People's Court in the neighboring Anhui Province.

Wang sought benefits for the two companies when serving as mayor of Nanjing, provincial capital of Jiangsu, and as the city's Communist Party chief, top legislator and deputy chief of the provincial legislature.

Relatives of Wang turned in 1.3 million yuan (US$180,000) during the investigation of the case.

The court made the final judgment after Wang appealed against the same sentence issued by a municipal-level court in the first instance in February.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2008)