A government official in southwest Chongqing municipality was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for taking bribes from a gang.

Gong Tianrong, former deputy director of Chongqing Agriculture Commission, was convicted of acting as the "protective umbrella" for a gang after taking 4.15 million yuan (656,000 U.S. dollars) in bribes, according to a verdict handed down by the Chongqing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.

Gong also failed to account for the sources of 5.5 million yuan of personal assets, it said.

In addition, the court found Gong had illegally transferred 4.6 hectares of land to a company when he was the manager of a livestock farm.

In the verdict, the court also ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets and deprived him of political rights for life.

In a court hearing on Wednesday, one gang member, which had made huge profits from coercive trading and through a pork-market monopoly, was sentenced to death for murder, while the ringleader was given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve.

Another 16 gang members were given prison terms ranging from 16 months to 19 years.

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