By Elizabeth Koh

SEOUL-- Samsung's de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, returned to prison after an appeals court handed down a 30-month sentence for a retrial of his 2017 conviction on charges of bribing South Korea's former president.

Mr. Lee, the 52-year-old grandson of Samsung's founder, walked free in 2018 when an appeals court lightened his original five-year sentence after he had spent nearly a year behind bars. South Korea's Supreme Court ordered a retrial in 2019, leading to Monday's verdict.

South Korean law gives judges discretion to suspend sentences of up to three years. But while delivering Monday's verdict, the Seoul High Court judges said they believed Mr. Lee's charges required him to serve more time in prison.

Wearing a dark tie and a face mask to court, Mr. Lee was taken into custody after the verdict. Mr. Lee is allowed to appeal his case to the nation's Supreme Court, though overturning his new sentence is unlikely, South Korean legal experts say. A Samsung Electronics Co. spokesman declined to comment.

Mr. Lee's absence leaves Samsung rudderless for the second time in four years as the technology giant struggles to chart a path out of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Going by "Jay Y. Lee" in the West, he had led the Samsung conglomerate since his father was incapacitated by a stroke in 2014. He was expected to formally take the Samsung chairmanship following the October death of his father, Lee Kun-hee.

The Samsung conglomerate encompasses dozens of affiliates from its crown jewel electronics division to theme parks and biopharmaceuticals. All key decisions require Mr. Lee's signoff.

Mr. Lee's case revolves around bribing former President Park Geun-hye and a close adviser in the buildup to a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates that required the backing of South Korea's government-run pension fund. In 2017, Mr. Lee was charged with making bribes of roughly 30 billion South Korean won, or about $27 million.

He was sentenced to five years in prison in the initial 2017 conviction, before his prison term was cut short later that year and the case was appealed.

Write to Elizabeth Koh at Elizabeth.Koh@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-18-21 0202ET