A court in Xi’an sentenced a former official of Shanxi province to 14 years in prison on Thursday for corruption.

Yang Dacai, former head of the Shaanxi provincial work safety administration, was jailed for 10 years for taking 250,000 yuan in bribes and another six years for holding unexplained properties worth 5.04 million yuan ($820,000). The concurrent punishment added up to a term of 14 years in jail, said the Xi’an Intermediate People's Court.

The money will be confiscated, with another 50,000 yuan as a fine, the court said.

Yang stood trial on August 31 and confessed to all the corruption charges.

Yang was given the moniker “Brother Watch” for smiling and wearing an expensive watch at the site of a deadly highway crash in Yan’an, Shannxi province on August 26 last year.

Yang Dacai, former head of the Shaanxi provincial work safety administration, stands bribery trial at Xi'an City Intermediate People's Court, Aug 30, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province. [Photo/Xinhua]