BEIJING - A former Beijing nightclub manager has received a four-year jail term for illegal pandering.

A local court in Chaoyang district handed down the sentence on Monday for Sun Lixia, former deputy manager of the Passion Nightclub at the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel in one of Beijing's busiest commercial areas.

Sun, 24 and college-educated, arranged prostitutes for the nightclub's customers from November 2009 to April 2010, charging 3,000 to 5,000 yuan ($475 to $791) each time, the court said in a statement.

The three prostitutes she recruited were all escort girls at the nightclub, and Sun pocketed 30 to 50 percent of their illegal income, it said.

Sun confessed she earned 6,500 yuan in total from the deals, but pled not guilty, saying she was "matchmaking," not "pandering, " the court document said.

It said Sun's lawyer defended her innocence, saying the accusations lacked solid evidence from any of the men hiring the prostitutes.

The court, however, said that Sun's actions violated China's criminal law and her profit-sharing was evidence that the deals had been illegal.

The court also ruled that Sun had to pay 8,000 yuan in fines and her illegal earnings were to be confiscated.

Passion Nightclub, also known as the "Heaven Earth," was one of the four nightclubs closed by Beijing authorities last year following a crackdown on prostitution.