Lawmaker gets 2yrs for illegal funds

[Anchor]

He is the key figure in the so-called 'Democratic Party money envelope scandal.'

Song Young-gil, the leader of the Pine Tree Party, was sentenced to two years in prison in the first trial for receiving illegal political funds and was taken into custody.

However, the court ruled him not guilty regarding the 'money envelope' charges, stating that the evidence was illegally obtained.

Reporter Gong Min-kyung reports.

[Report]

Song Young-gil, the leader of the Pine Tree Party, was elected as the leader at the Democratic Party convention held in 2021.

Allegations have been raised that envelopes containing over 60 million won were distributed to Democratic Party lawmakers to secure his election.

Former lawmaker Song was indicted last January for his involvement in this process and for receiving illegal political funds worth 760 million won under the pretext of sponsorship through an external organization.

[Song Young-gil/Pine Tree Party Leader: "I have no involvement in this. I have consistently claimed this. There has been no direct evidence presented regarding this."]

After denying all charges throughout the trial process for about a year, the first trial court today (1.8) sentenced Song to two years in prison and took him into custody.

However, the first trial court acknowledged only the charges of receiving illegal political funds and ruled him not guilty regarding the money envelope allegations.

The prosecution's key evidence for the money envelope charges was a recorded phone call obtained from Lee Jung-geun, the former deputy secretary-general of the Democratic Party, during the investigation of the bribery mediation case. The first trial court determined that "the electronic information from the phone unrelated to the bribery mediation case was illegally obtained and has no evidentiary value."

However, former Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok, who was indicted for his involvement in the distribution of money envelopes for Song's election, had his two-year prison sentence confirmed last year, and former and current lawmakers who received the envelopes were also found guilty in the first trial, with their second trial ongoing.

The prosecution has announced that it will appeal the verdict regarding Song.

This is KBS News, Gong Min-kyung.