Chen Wenhui, one of seven suspects involved in a telecom fraud case that led to the death of a student last year, was sentenced to life in jail by a court in Linyi, east China's Shandong Province on Wednesday.
Xu Yuyu, a high school graduate from Linyi, died of a heart attack last August after 9,900 yuan (1,450 US dollars) of her university tuition fees were swindled. She was 18 years old.
The other six suspects received sentences varying between three to 15 years.
The case sparked national outcry last year.
All seven suspects involved in the case were arrested in August 2016.
Local prosecutors said the criminal gang amassed more than 560,000 yuan (82,200 US dollars) by cheating people through phone calls made between November 2015 and August 2016.
