In the Irkutsk Region, the Angarsk City Court granted a petition for parole for Andrey Levchenko, the son of ex-governor of the region Sergey Levchenko. Charged with fraud and restricting competition, he was sentenced last July to nine years in prison. In March of this year, the regional court commuted Levchenko’s sentence to six years at the request of the prosecutor’s office. After that, taking into account the time spent in the pre-trial detention center during the investigation of the criminal case, he had the opportunity to apply for parole. From the colony, where Andrei Levchenko is now serving a term, he should be released on May 26.
On May 10, the Angarsk City Court granted the petition for parole of the deputy of the legislature of the region, the leader of the Communist Party faction, Andrey Levchenko, the son of the ex-governor of the Angara region. According to the press service of the court, the decision has not entered into force and can be appealed on appeal to the Irkutsk Regional Court within 15 days from the date of issue.
“The court, taking into account the behavior of Levchenko A.S. for the entire period of serving the sentence, decided to release the convict from serving the main sentence in the form of imprisonment on parole for two years and two months. During this period, he will be entrusted with a number of duties: to register monthly with a specialized state body that monitors the behavior of the convict, not to change his permanent place of residence without notifying this body, not to visit entertainment establishments from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. message.
According to the court, in April 2023, Levchenko already applied to the court with a request for parole, but he was denied acceptance of the application. The decision on parole was made taking into account the time spent earlier in the pre-trial detention center.
Lawyers and relatives of Andrei Levchenko are currently refraining from commenting. As a source from the family of the ex-governor’s son told Kommersant, all statements will be made after the decision enters into force.
“After 15 days, or May 26, Andrei must be released. We hope that until this moment the decision of the court will not be appealed. While we need to survive this moment, wait and rejoice in full force. Now we accept numerous congratulations, ”says the interlocutor of Kommersant.
Andrey Levchenko will spend the next 15 days in PKU IK-14, where he previously served his sentence. The regional prosecutor’s office refrains from commenting on a possible appeal against the decision of the Angarsk City Court.
Statements regarding the political future of Levchenko, for example, participation in the election campaign for the election of deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Irkutsk Region, scheduled for September 2023, are not yet made by his relatives and his colleagues in the Communist Party faction in the regional parliament.
Kommersant’s source in the supervisory authorities recalls that, in addition to the main punishment, after its expiration, Levchenko cannot hold public service positions related to the exercise of organizational, administrative and administrative powers for a period of 2 years 11 months. In addition, the corpus delicti for which he was convicted (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) belongs to the category of grave.
“Citizens with outstanding convictions for grave and especially grave crimes cannot participate in the elections,” commented Kommersant in the regional election commission, in turn.
Earlier it was reported that Andrey Levchenko was detained by employees of the Investigative Committee of Russia and the Federal Security Service in September 2020, and searches were carried out at the place of work and residence of the deputy and in the house of his father, the former governor of the Irkutsk region Sergey Levchenko. The detention took place as part of an initiated criminal case on embezzlement by fraud of funds from the Fund for the Capital Repair of Apartment Buildings in the Irkutsk Region.
Later, the investigation charged Levchenko and other defendants in the case with fraud and restriction of competition in the supply of elevator equipment for apartment buildings to the region and the fulfillment of contracts for the replacement of elevators. The state prosecution insisted in court that “as a result of the joint actions of the accused, almost 1 billion rubles in income was illegally extracted”, and the preparation of false estimates and acts on the inflated volumes of work performed, the purchase of additional materials, as well as transportation costs made it possible to extract “ additional income in the amount of more than 55 million rubles”, which later began to be considered as damage caused to the regional overhaul fund.
In July 2022, the Kirovsky District Court of Irkutsk sentenced Andrei Levchenko to nine years in prison. However, already in March 2023, the Irkutsk Regional Court, at the request of the state prosecution, commuted the sentence to six years in prison.
