Chinese Convict Lived Life of Ease

A former deputy Communist Party secretary in a lathe factory made tens of thousands of dollars and lived like a king while serving a six-year jail sentence for corruption, the Legal Daily reported Thursday.

Chen Zhengsu was sent to prison in Huainan, central Anhui province, in 1986 but never spent a night in a cell or ate a meal with other prisoners, enjoying instead a private room and special food, the paper said.

Working with partners on the outside and using materials stolen from the inside, Chen ran a hardware factory, shops and printing center, the newspaper said.

He was praised by Huainan prison officials “who dropped their political vigilance and put money before the party,” it said. “For this serious error,” 16 officials have received severe warnings and party punishments.