An appellate court sentenced Kim Yong, the former deputy of a think tank affiliated with the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) and a former aide to DP chief Lee Jae-myung, to five years in prison on charges of accepting illegal political funds.

The Seoul High Court on Thursday upheld the lower court-ordered five-year prison term, fine of 70 million won, or around 48-thousand U.S. dollars, and forfeiture of 67 million won.

Kim, who was released on bail during the appeals process last May, was taken into custody after it was annulled.

Kim was indicted under suspicion of scheming with Yoo Dong-kyu, former executive of the Seongnam Development Corporation, to take 847 million won in bribes from lawyer Nam Wook around the time of DP primaries for the 2022 presidential election.

Kim was also suspected of taking 190 million won from Yoo for providing favors in the Daejang-dong development project, while serving as a standing member of the Seongnam city council's urban construction committee from February 2013 to April 2014.

The court, meanwhile, acquitted Yoo, while sentencing Nam to eight months.

Kim's lawyer said he will appeal Thursday's ruling.