TIANJIN, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Zhai Yanmin, an unemployed resident of Beijing, was sentenced to three years in prison with a four-year reprieve after being found guilty of subverting state power Tuesday.

The ruling was handed down by the No. 2 Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin in a first-instant open trial held in the day.

The court was told that Zhai, together with three others -- Hu Shigen, Zhou Shifeng and Li Heping -- had conspired and plotted to subvert state power, and had "established a systematic ideology, method and steps to achieve it."

Zhai, 55, was also deprived of his political rights for four years, according to Tuesday's court verdict.

Zhai pled guilty and decided not to appeal.