NANJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Criminals involved in the case of fly-tipping garbage into the Yangtze River were sentenced to one to six years in prison by a court in east China's Jiangsu Province Friday.

Three principal criminals, surnamed Ni, Zhou, and Zhang, have been given jail terms ranging from four to over six years, and fined 400,000 yuan (58,000 U.S. dollars) to one million yuan, according to the People's Court in the city of Changshu.

The court said that accessory criminals in the case were sentenced to one to two years in jail, and fined 50,000 yuan to 60,000 yuan.

From August to December 2016, more than 20,088 tonnes of household garbage was dumped into the Nantong and Taicang sections of the Yangtze River, and more than 22,832 tonnes of household garbage was transported to neighboring Zhejiang and Anhui provinces and illegally landfilled there.

The garbage involved in the case was found to contain poisonous and harmful substances, which affected the water supply in two water plants in the city of Taicang, said the court.