MOSCOW, January 30 - RAPSI, Diana Gutsul. The Moscow City Court sentenced Marat Polyansky, a member of two crime rings, to 23 years in prison, after finding him guilty of 11 counts of murder, the court told RAPSI on Wednesday.

According to media reports, Polyansky was a member of the notorious Orekhovo and Medvedkovo organized crime rings. In February 2001, Polyansky was arrested in Spain at the request of the Russian Prosecutor-Generals Office. Firearms and ammunition were confiscated during his arrest. In April 2002, a Barcelona court gave him a nine-month prison sentence for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

After serving his prison term in Spain, Polyansky was extradited to Russia. In 2011, a Russian court sentenced him to 17 years in a maximum-security penitentiary for four counts of murder.

The verdict on the second case was passed on Wednesday. In this trial, Polyansky was charged with committing 11 murders in 1996-1998. The prosecution said in some of those murders he had acted as a hit-man, while in others he had masterminded the whole crime and involved other hit-men.

The court sentenced Polyansky to 19 years in a maximum-security penitentiary. After taking into consideration the previous Moscow City Court verdict, the final sentence is 23 years in a maximum-security penitentiary.

The case was tried under a special procedure as the defendant had confessed to all counts and had entered into a pre-trial plea bargain with the investigators. When deciding on the verdict, the court took into account Polyanskys confession, his repentance and his cooperation with the investigators.