Thief in law Yuri Pichugin (Pichuga) and members of his gang have been sentenced in the Komi Republic, the Investigative Committee reports.
In addition to organizing a criminal community (Article 210 of the Criminal Code) and participating in it (Article 209 of the Criminal Code), they were accused, depending on the role of each, of five murders and attempted murder (Article 105 of the Criminal Code), kidnapping (Article 126 of the Criminal Code), illegal circulation of weapons, explosives or explosive devices (Articles 222, 222.1 of the Criminal Code), extortion (Article 163 of the Criminal Code), fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code), etc. Crimes were committed on the territory of the republic and the Arkhangelsk region.
According to the Investigative Committee, Pichugin formed a group in 1992-1994 in Komi. Initially, they “protected” entrepreneurs. “The collected money and property were transferred to the general cash desk. The sources of its replenishment were also the transfer of funds from crimes against property committed by persons serving sentences in correctional institutions or who were in pre-trial detention centers,» the message says.
The activity of the group was stopped in February 2017, when Pichugin and six active members of the gang were detained. The rest of its members were prosecuted during 2017-2018, the department added.
The investigation was conducted on the territory of 20 Russian subjects. One of the defendants was extradited from Thailand. “The collection of evidence was hampered by the fact that Yuri Pichugin’s criminal community had a huge criminal influence in the Komi Republic and beyond its borders, its members earned the reputation of ruthless and bloodthirsty criminals, so most of the procedural persons were reluctant to cooperate with the investigation,” the Investigative Committee noted.
A total of 18 people were involved in the case. Pichugin and Khadis Azizov were sentenced to life imprisonment, 15 defendants received from 10 to 24 years in prisons of special and strict regimes. Cooperation agreements were concluded with three members of the organized crime group, and cases against them were separated into separate proceedings. They received from 7 to 11 years in prison. All convicts were also fined from 500 thousand to 3 million rubles.
Pichugin is on the US sanctions list “as part of the fight against the Thieves in Law organization.” The Investigative Committee previously reported that among the members of his gang were athletes and former military personnel, as well as law enforcement officers. In addition to “covering” they committed theft in grocery and industrial stores, theft of petroleum products, and also engaged in telephone fraud and real estate fraud.
From 2003 to 2006, the money received as a result of criminal activities, the group invested in commercial activities. She was engaged in catering, organization in the field of leisure and services, passenger and freight transportation and logging.
