SEOUL ¨C A South Korean appeals court on Friday sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to 25 years in jail, Yonhap news agency reported, in a case arising from a far-reaching corruption scandal that toppled her in 2017.

Park became South Korea¡¯s first democratically elected leader to be forced from office when the Constitutional Court removed her over a scandal that landed the heads of two conglomerates in jail.

The Seoul High Court found that Park colluded with her friend, Choi Soon-sil, to receive tens of billions of won from major conglomerates to help Choi¡¯s family and fund nonprofit foundations owned by her, Yonhap reported, citing the court.

The court also fined Park, the daughter of a former military dictator, 20 billion won ($17.86 million) after finding her guilty of charges including bribery and coercion, Yonhap said.

A lower court jailed Park for 24 years in April. Prosecutors appealed against that decision, seeking a tougher sentence.

Another South Korean court sentenced Park in July to eight more years in prison in a separate case arising from the same scandal, finding her guilty on charges of causing the loss of government funds and interfering in a 2016 parliamentary election.

Park, 66, has been in jail since March 31, 2017, but has denied wrongdoing and was not present in court. She returned to South Korea¡¯s presidential palace in 2012 as the country¡¯s first woman leader more than three decades after she left it following the assassination of her father.

Her ouster last year led to a presidential election won by the liberal Moon Jae-in, whose conciliatory stance on North Korea has led to a significant warming of ties with the North.

She is the third former South Korean leader to be convicted on criminal charges after leaving office, joining Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, who were both found guilty of treason and corruption in the 1990s.

In addition former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide in 2009 after being questioned over graft allegations involving his family.