SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean appeals court released Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday as Lee got a suspended jail sentence in the second trial.

The Seoul High Court sentenced Lee, an heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, to two and a half years in prison with a stay of execution for four years.

It was a commutation from the five-year imprisonment levied in the first trial on Aug. 25, 2017.

Lee was taken into custody on Feb. 17, 2017 for bribery charges. Prosecutors sought 12 years in prison for Lee.