Auckland-based Samoan chief Moeaia Tuai has been handed a lengthy prison sentence for holding two immigrants in slavery

The ex-corrections officer-turned-inmate was found guilty by a jury in November of two counts of dealing in slaves, involving a male and a female victim, who he'd helped bring to New Zealand.

The judge sentenced him to 16-years and four months imprisonment, rejecting any suggestion his crimes were in any way a cultural misunderstanding.

Moeaia Tuai has also been found guilty of assaulting the female victim with a weapon on one occasion, twice raping her and 14 other counts of sexual abuse that occurred over a period of years.

He faces up to 20 years for the rape charges.