The Taipei District Court also sentenced him to 120 hours of community service, a fine of NT$5 million, and a loss of his civil rights for four years.

Yu was found guilty of leaking the name list of jury members for the construction of the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei to businessman Kuo Chuan-ching. Yu reportedly acted at the request of former First Lady Wu Shu-jen.

Obtaining the name list allowed Kuo to influence the jury and have them turn the contract tender in his company's favor.

The court found seven jury members guilty yesterday and sentenced them to jail terms ranging from seven years and two months to eight years. Most of the convicted are university professors, reports said.

Hung Chung-hsin, a friend of Yu who was indicted later during the investigation, received one year and eight months, suspended for four years.

Yu, a member of a prominent family from Kaohsiung County, has been a friend of Chen and Wu for more than two decades.

The Nangang Exhibition Hall is one of the four cases of alleged corruption and money laundering involving the former First Family.

On Sept. 11, the Taipei District Court sentenced Chen to life in prison and to a fine of NT$200 million, and Wu to life and to NT$300 million. Both are appealing the sentences with the Taiwan High Court.

The ex-president has been jailed as a suspect since December 30, and the next session to decide on his eventual release is not expected to be scheduled until late next month.

Chen has vehemently defended his innocence, saying most of the transactions involved in the allegedly illegal deals happened without his knowledge. He has also accused the judiciary of helping the government of President Ma Ying-jeou waging a politically motivated vendetta against him.

Chen's 2000 presidential election victory ended more than five decades of Kuomintang rule over Taiwan.