Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. File Photo by Robert Ghement/EPA

May 27 (UPI) -- Romania's Supreme Court on Monday upheld a corruption conviction for the leader of the country's ruling political party, sending him to prison for 3.5 years.

Liviu Dragnea, 56, was found guilty in June for paying two party members using government money for fake jobs at a child protection agency. He appealed the ruling, but the top court upheld the conviction.


Dragnea was speaker of the lower house of Parliament and head of the ruling Social Democratic Party.

The ruling came after the party experienced losses in both the European Parliament elections and an anti-corruption referendum over the weekend. The party came in second to the National Liberal Party in the European elections.

"With this decision, the Liviu Dragnea era ends. Romania is getting better," opposition leader Dan Barna said.

Dragnea is also being investigated in a separate case for allegedly heading a scheme to take money from state projects.