The official Xinhua News Agency said today that Cao Yinhua was convicted of establishing cult organisations, recruiting people and producing preaching materials. She was sentenced by a court in the central city of Wuhan.
Xinhua said Cao was a leader of an unorthodox Christian group called Quannengshen, or "All-powerful Spirit." It is also known as the Church of Almighty God.
Six members of the group are accused of beating a woman at a McDonald's in eastern China in May. The news report gave no indication Cao's sentence was connected to that attack.