Ex-Hong Kong official sentenced to three years in prison in U.S. bribery case

Chi Ping Patrick Ho is consoled by his attorney Benjamin Rosenberg during his sentencing in a bribery trial by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in New York, U.S., March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Hong Kong government official was sentenced to three years in prison on Monday by a U.S. judge following his conviction for bribing officials in Chad and Uganda in exchange for contracts for a Chinese energy company.

Chi Ping Patrick Ho, 69, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan federal court, where he had been found guilty of seven criminal charges last December. Ho, who has been in jail since his arrest 16 months ago, had sought a sentence of time served, while prosecutors had sought five years.