Lee Joon Seok, the captain of the South Korean Sewol ferry which sunk on April 16, has been sentenced to 36 years in prison, according to BBC News.

More than 300 people, mostly students on a field trip to the island of Jeju, were killed when the ferry sunk BBC News reported. Only 172 survived the tragedy, which was named as South Korea's worst maritime disaster in history, a report from Business Week added.

Lee, along with 15 senior members of his crew, was charged with abandoning the sinking ship without attempting to evacuate the trapped passengers inside. 69-year-old Lee was acquitted from the homicide charges that could have given him death penalty, BBC News noted.

Lee Kwang Jae, the captain's court-appointed lawyer, pleaded the judge for "mercy" on October 27. The judge, however, said "he didn't know what punishment would alleviate people's anger," Business Week further reported.

Judge Lim Joung Youb, who gave the verdict, found Lee "guilty of negligence for failing to take measures to save the passengers," according to Business Week.

"The judges said that he was clearly not the only person responsible for the tragedy and they accepted that his negligence did not amount to an intent to kill," BBC News added.

According to BBC News, the chief engineer of the sunken ferry, Park Gi Ho, was charged with 30 years in prison and found guilty of murder. Park reportedly overlooked and didn't offer assistance to dying crew members. Thirteen other crew members were also given 20 years of jail sentence on the grounds of violating maritime law and abandonment.

The sinking of the ferry was blamed on "illegal redesigns, the overloading of cargo and the inexperience of the crew member steering the vessel," BBC News noted. The Sewol ferry took more cargo than it can carry, making the ship less stable.

Anger From Grieving Families

The court judge's verdict sparked outrage and grief from the families of the victims, Business Week reported. Family members think that the sentences given to the crew members were too lenient.

Lee Jong Chul, whose son died in the Sewol ferry tragedy, said in the Business Week report: "Of course the captain deserves the death penalty. Whatever the crew members get won't be enough for the lives they neglected." 

BBC News added that the families of the victims "wanted the verdict to be murder as a mark of the seriousness of the negligence committed by the people in charge of the ship."

Hours before the verdicts were given, the search for the missing bodies from the ferry were called off by the South Korean government, BBC News reports. About nine victims of the tragedy are still unaccounted for.

A Nation Reeling from Tragedy

President Park Geun Hye's government was heavily criticized over her handling of the Sewol ferry disaster. According to a report from ABC, the public sees the government's response to the tragedy as a botched rescue operation.

The trial that gave the sentence to Lee and his fellow crew members, held at Gwangju District Court, only served to fuel the public's anger and disappointment towards the president, Business Week further reported.

"Her approval rating tumbled to its lowest in more than a year in the wake of the sinking. Days after the disaster she called the actions of the crew 'like murder' and in May bowed in apology during a public address to the nation," Business Week noted.

Chonghaejin Marine Co., the firm that operated the sunken ferry, is also going through a separate trial. Owner and billionaire business man Yoo Byung Eun fled and disappeared after the disaster and was found dead back in July, ABC reported.

Last week, three of his relatives were jailed for embezzlement, while it is still being decided if his daughter will be extradited for the same charges.