TIANJIN, Jan. 12 -- Li Dongsheng, former vice minister of Public Security, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes, a court in Tianjin announced on Tuesday.

The Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's court handed down the sentence and confiscated 1 million yuan (152,000 U.S. dollars) of Li's personal property.

The court held that the former vice minister of Public Security took advantage of his posts to seek benefits for himself and others, and extorted and accepted "a huge amount" of bribes.

Between 1996 and 2013, when Li worked as vice head of China Central Television and vice-minister of public security, he and his younger brother Li Fusheng together took 21.98 million yuan worth of bribes, among which Li pocketed 4.8 million yuan.

The court heard that Li returned all of the bribes during police investigation.

Li is the latest in a long string of high-ranking officials jailed under the central government's sweeping anti-corruption drive.

The court said his sentence was given with leniency as he cooperated in the investigation, expressed remorse, confessed details of his offense, and returned the bribes.