Six Japanese found guilty in Lockheed bribery case

A court found the head of a major Japanese airline and five other defendants guilty Tuesday of involvement in the $12 million Lockheed bribery scandal but gave them suspended sentences of six months to three years.

The verdict will not directly affect the separate trial of former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, but it is widely regarded as a further setback for a man who is still a political force. Lockheed pleaded guilty to charges of paying nearly $2 million in bribes to Japanese officials and businessmen and hiding the payoffs in a successful attempt to sell its L-1011 TriStar planes.