BANGKOK, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A construction tycoon in Thailand was sentenced to 16 months in jail on Tuesday for illegal possession of weapons and conspiring to poach.

A provincial court sentenced Premchai Karnasuta, president of Thailand's largest construction company Italian-Thai Development Pcl, for possession of a firearm without permit, enabling poaching and possession of a Kalij pheasant carcass, a protected animal.

But the court acquitted him of poaching a black panther in a wildlife sanctuary, which sent the nation into an uproar.

"I'd like to say only one thing -- I'm sorry," Premchai said to the public after the verdict.

His three co-defendants were convicted of weapons- and poaching-related offenses. Thanee Toommat was the only defendant convicted of poaching and sentenced to three years and five months in prison. He and Premchai were collectively fined two million baht (about 62,500 U.S. dollars).

The 64-year-old tycoon and his co-defendants were arrested early last year at a campsite in western Thailand, where authorities found firearms and animal remains, including those of a protected black panther. Enditem

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