MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – A witness in a high-profile corruption scandal that erupted under the Defense Ministry last year was sent to prison for two years and eight months by a Moscow court on Wednesday, the RAPSI legal news agency reported.

Dmitry Mityaev, formerly the top lawyer at construction company MIRA, was convicted of soliciting a 3 million ruble ($92,000) bribe to “expedite” directives issued by former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, RAPSI reported.

Serdyukov was fired last year amid a corruption scandal around Oboronservis, a Defense Ministry holding company, and several of its top executives have been arrested on charges related to fraudulent property deals.

Mityaev is accused of working in conjunction with Nikolai Lyubutov, a former sales director at legal center Ekspert, who was sent to prison for two and a half years earlier in 2013, RAPSI reported. Lyubutov was also a witness in the Oboronservis case.

Mityaev maintained his innocence throughout the trial, but was taken into custody immediately after the judge passed sentence. Prosecutors had requested a five year jail term.