1st LD-Writethru: Former senior legislator sentenced to death with reprieve

Bai Enpei, a former senior lawmaker with the National People's Congress, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on Sunday for taking "a huge amount of bribes" and holding excessive assets from unidentified sources.

Bai, who has also served as head of the provincial committees of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Qinghai and Yunnan, was deprived of political rights for life and had all his personal property confiscated, according to a statement of the Anyang City Intermediate People's Court in Henan Province.

After the two-year reprieve, Bai's death penalty will be commuted to life imprisonment, and no further commutation or parole will be permitted, according to the statement.

Between 2000 and 2013, Bai took advantage of his positions and power to wrongfully benefit others in areas including real estate development, mining rights acquisition and promotions, the statement said.

He illegally accepted, personally or through his wife, nearly 250 million yuan (37.5 million U.S. dollars) worth of money and goods.

Moreover, his property and expenditures significantly exceeded his legal income and their sources cannot be explained. Endi