Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced to six years in prison for bribery at the Tel Aviv district court Tuesday, media reported.

Olmert was found guilty in March of accepting bribes when he served as mayor of Jerusalem in exchange for helping the developers of the city’s Holyland Park, a residential project, Harretz online reported.

Tel Aviv District Court Judge David Rozen read out Olmert’s sentence.

“A public servant who accepts bribes is equivalent to a traitor,” Rozen said.

Olmert has pleaded not guilty to the bribery charges as well as other corruption charges that forced his resignation as premier in 2008.

“This is a sad day in which an unjust and severe sentence is expected to be handed down on an innocent man,” Olmert said in a statement issued prior to the sentencing.