MOSCOW, July 6 (RAPSI) – A court in Russia’s town of Tambov has sentenced a former deputy chief of the regional directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service to 8.5 years in a high-security prison for receiving a 400,000-ruble bribe ($5,500), the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office reports.

Additionally, the former official has been fined 1 million rubles ($14,000) and banned from holding certain posts for 5 years, the statement reads.

He has been found guilty of bribery and abuse of office.

According to court records, in June and September 2014, the defendant received the money from a relative of an inmate for his release on parole.