Samsung leader walks from prison after bribery charges “suspended”

Enlarge / Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung, seen here leaving a court hearing in January 2017. (credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Samsung Group's de facto leader and vice chairman, Lee Jae-yong  (aka, Jay Y. Lee), was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of bribery, embezzlement, capital flight, and perjury charges. Today, only six months after his sentencing, Lee is out of prison.

In a hearing monday, a South Korean appeals court cut Lee's original sentence in half, to two-and-a-half years. It also suspended the charges against Lee for bribery and embezzlement, which allows Lee to walk free. For now, Lee is looking at four years of probation, though he said he plans to appeal the remaining guilty verdicts.

Lee Jae-yong's conviction was part of a scandal that saw the head of Samsung bribe the then-president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, to approve a merger of two Samsung Group affiliates. The fallout led to Park's impeachment, making her South Korea's first elected leader to be forced from office early.