Gu Kailai, the wife of a Chinese politician, has been given a suspended death sentence over the murder of a British businessman, a lawyer for the victim's family told reporters.
"We respect today's decision," said He Zhengsheng, representing the family of Neil Heywood, who was killed last November.
Monday's sentence means Gu is likely to face life in prison, provided she does not commit offences in the next two years.
Gu admitted in court earlier this month to poisoning Heywood after a business dispute that she said had led him to threaten her son.
The scandal ended the career of Gu's husband, Bo Xilai, who was once seen as a contender for a place in China's next Communist Party leadership, which will be announced later this year.
In March Bo was removed as party secretary of the city of Chongqing, with the party citing unspecified violations as the reason.
Zhang Xiaojun, a Bo family aide who admitted to helping Gu with the murder, received a 9-year jail sentence, lawyer He said. Non-official media were not allowed in the courtroom.
The verdict in Gu's trial should be a step toward closing a scandal that has rocked the Chinese leadership at a sensitive time, just months before it will hand over power to younger leaders.
Gu's arrest and the ousting of her husband sparked the biggest political turbulence in China since the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989.