Prosecutors demanded a 21/2-year prison sentence Tuesday for Joji Yamamoto, a former House of Representatives lawmaker and ex-member of the Democratic Party of Japan accused of fraud for misappropriating public money paid to his secretary.
Yamamoto, 38, pleaded guilty in his first trial hearing before the Tokyo District Court on Nov. 10. He apologized for his actions, and his lawyers asked for leniency without rebutting any of the prosecutors' charges.
Yamamoto is charged with defrauding the government of some 25.5 million yen in taxpayer money from November 1996 to September 1999 in violation of the law controlling political funds.