Former People Power Party member Ha Young-je received a prison sentence of 1 year and 6 months from the Supreme Court on charges of receiving over 160 million won in illegal political funds. Ha has been in custody since the second trial verdict in January.
On the 1st, the Supreme Court's second division (Chief Justice Oh Kyung-mi) dismissed Ha's appeal in the political fund law violation case and upheld the second trial's sentence of 1 year and 6 months.
Ha, a graduate of the 23rd administrative examination, worked as a public servant in the Korea Forest Service, Ministry of Interior, and Ministry of Interior before being elected as a member of the National Assembly in 2020 representing Sacheon, Namhae, and Hadong under the People Power Party.
In May 2023, he was indicted on charges of violating the political fund law. Ha is accused of receiving a total of 163.5 million won from Song Do-geun, the former mayor of Sacheon, a sitting Gyeongnam provincial council member at the time, and aides in his local office, under the pretext of election expenses for the National Assembly and operating costs for his local office from March 2020 to June 2023. Ha left the People Power Party immediately after the indictment.
Last year, the first trial court recognized most of Ha's illegal political fund receipt charges as guilty and sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months. Both Ha and the prosecution appealed; however, the second trial dismissed the appeals in January. Ha was released on bail but was taken into custody immediately after the second trial's verdict.
On that day, the Supreme Court determined that "there are no issues with the second trial ruling."