Moscow regional court on Thursday sentenced three members of a carjacking gang to life in prison for 22 murders and numerous other attacks on motorists, the Russian Legal Information agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reported.
Four other gang members received lengthy prison terms.
The gang, led by two former police officers, Yevgeny Fyodorov and Dmitry Semin, attacked owners of expensive cars in Moscow and Moscow region in 2000-2007, according to court documents.
The court found the defendants guilty of 22 murders and dozens of robberies.
Members of the gang posing as traffic police would signal cars to pull over and then kill their drivers, often brutally.
“These monsters dragged my brother out of the car, beat, strangled, and burned him until he died, then took $5,000 in cash he was carrying and his car, a Land Cruiser,” one of the victims told RAPSI.
“The activity of the gang was characterized by the stability of its composition and careful preparation and planning of the crimes,” the verdict stated.
Most of the convicted gang members were arrested in 2007 and had already been sentenced for similar crimes in May 2009.
Their victims included citizens of China, Vietnam, Lithuania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan.
