Once one of Russia's only liberal governors, Nikita Belykh has now been sentenced to eight years in prison on bribery charges he denies

A Moscow court has convicted former Kirov Governor Nikita Belykh of accepting hundreds of thousands of euros in bribes, sentencing him to eight years in prison and fining him 48.2 million rubles ($860,000).

Federal Security Service agents detained Belykh in June 2016, when he was still the Kirov region’s sitting governor. He's been found guilty of taking €600,000 (almost $750,000) in bribes from a local businessman. Belykh denies the charges, saying his political adversaries framed him. The money he received from the entrepreneur, Belykh says, was intended for his election campaign and for city improvements.

Prosecutors wanted Belykh locked up for 10 years, fined 100 million rubles ($17 million), and banned from working for the government for eight years after his incarceration.

President Dmitry Medvedev nominated Nikita Belykh to serve as Kirov governor in December 2008. Though his appointment angered some in the anti-Kremlin opposition, Belykh's position represents a high point for liberals' prominence in Russian politics over the past 10 years. Belykh's political fortunes turned when Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency in 2012.