The Seoul Supreme Court in South Korea sentenced Lee on Monday to 2 1/2 years behind bars after convicting him of embezzlement and bribery. He was arrested after the verdict.
Lee, meanwhile, was convicted in 2017 of bribery and other corruption charges and was sentenced to five years in prison at the time. But he was released after less than a year when an appeals court dropped the charges and suspended his sentence.
This latest sentence is the result of a retrial ordered by the country’s Supreme Court.
Samsung did not want to comment on the sentencing, but rather referred to a statement from Lee’s lawyers.
“This case is essentially a violation of the company’s rights to liberty and property by the former president who is abusing her power,” said Injae Lee, the lawyer who leads the vice president’s defense team. “I find the court’s decision regrettable.”
Lee may appeal if he prefers, but it was not immediately clear whether he intended to do so.
Lee’s legal problems are also not over yet. He faces a separate trial over a controversial merger in 2015 that helped him tighten control over the company. Eleven Samsung executives, including Lee, were charged last year on charges of illegal transactions, stock manipulation and perjury.
That case is still pending.