Former deputy mayor convicted.

Breaking news "Gunma Prefecture".

By AI of "Isesaki FM".

Former deputy mayor of Maebashi found guilty in bid-rigging case.

The sentencing hearing for former deputy mayor Totsuka Yoshiaki, who was charged with excessive bribery and other crimes in connection with a case of bid-rigging and bribery involving construction work ordered in Maebashi, was held at the Maebashi District Court on the 7th.

The presiding judge acknowledged that Totsuka was aware of the nature of the bribery and sentenced him to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years.

In his reasons for the sentence, the presiding judge noted that the deputy mayor had accepted the goods after being told by a contractor who had been telling him the estimated price of the public works before he became deputy mayor that "we would like to ask for the amount" and "we have successfully won the bid," and that it would have been easy to recognize that they were bribes.