A district court has sentenced Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development scandal, to two-and-a-half years in prison for bribing the head of the Seongnam City Council in return for favors related to the development project.

The Suwon District Court issued the sentence on Wednesday while sentencing former city council chairman, Choi Yoon-gil, to four-and-a-half years for wrongfully passing a bill on establishing the Seongnam Development Corporation at Kim's request.

However, the court did not have Kim and Choi remanded in custody, saying they are unlikely to destroy evidence and had faithfully taken part in their trials.

Kim was indicted on suspicion of providing 80 million won, or around 60-thousand U.S. dollars, in bribes to Choi in return for the former council chair passing the bill on the development corporation in 2013.

Wednesday marked the first time for Kim, who is facing multiple charges, to get a guilty verdict. Last February, Kim was acquitted from charges of providing five billion won in bribes to former ruling People Power Party Rep. Kwak Sang-do in return for business favors, a ruling which has since been appealed by the prosecution.