A former Rio de Janeiro state governor is admitting for the first time that he accepted bribes while he was in power from 2007 to 2014.

Sergio Cabral is considered one of the most corrupt politicians in Brazil and has been in prison since 2016 serving a 200-year sentence for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.

He long maintained his innocence, but in testimony filmed at Brazil's attorney general's office Thursday, Cabral candidly speaks about bribes worth tens of millions received from his administration's kick-back scheme with government contractors.

He says almost every company that worked on Rio's new subway for the 2016 Olympics paid bribes, and he conceded the project would have been cheaper without the bribery scheme.

Cabral said he felt "very relieved" to be giving the testimony.