london (ap)

A former British defence official was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for accepting bribes from an American contractor.

Michael Hale, 58, was convicted of accepting £217,000 pounds (€319,000 US$431,000), free flights, hotel accommodation and an ocean cruise from Pacific Consolidated Industries of Santa Ana, California, between November 1999 and July 2003.

Hale managed a £4.5 million (€6.6 million; US$8.9 million) contract for the supply of gas and containment equipment for Britain's three military services, particularly the Royal Air Force.

Lawyers uncovered a total of nine bribes over the four-year period in an audit launched after another company bought the California firm, the court heard U.S. authorities informed British defence officials.

Plead guilty

Hale from Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to nine counts of accepting bribes from the company.

"You were well aware of the strict rules about behaviour to be avoided so as not to raise the presumption of corruption," Judge Christopher Elwen said in sentencing Hale.

Prosecutor Christopher Donnellan said a Defence Ministry investigation revealed Hale had used money paid into his stepson's bank account to buy a five-bedroom Spanish villa and another house near his home in England.

A Pacific Consolidated Industries vice-president also took Hale out on his boat and paid for the British official's plane tickets and hotel bills, the court heard. The court heard that the American businessman was awaiting trial in the U.S.