MOSCOW, January 24 (RAPSI) – A court in Russia’s Vladikavkaz has sentenced Arthur Dzhioyev, an active member of a notorious Russian gang headed by Georgian-born Aslan Gagiyev, to 17 years in high security prison, the Investigative Committee’s press service reports Thursday.

Dzhioyev has been found guilty of organizing a criminal gang and participation in it, murder, attempted assassination, illegal deprivation of human freedom, ammunition trafficking.

According to investigators, the man was a right-hand of Gagiyev, who had organized the crime syndicate suspected of multiple murders. Dzhioyev allegedly coordinated actions of the gang’s units and was involved in killings and other especially grave crimes. The Investigative Committee stated that the defendant took part in one attempted assassination and five murders.

Dzhioyev, who had been put on the international wanted list, was arrested in Greece in 2015. In February 2018, he was extradited to Russia. 

Russian investigators claim that Gagiyev’s gang has been operating since 2004 and includes over 50 members. Members of the gang committed more than 60 counts of murder in Moscow, Moscow Region and North Ossetia including murders of officials, law enforcement officers and businessmen. Some members of the gang have already been convicted and are serving long prison terms.