The leader of an organized crime gang has been sentenced to
death and 33 members received jail terms of up to life imprisonment
in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
Fan Zezhong, a former forestry police officer, of Zhenxiong
County, was convicted of murder, extortion and organizing women for
prostitution between May 2004 and September 2005, when he headed
the 34-strong gang, the Zhaotong City Intermediate People's Court
heard on Friday.
Three members of the gang were sentenced to life imprisonment
and the others got three years to 20 years in jail.
The trial began on June 27 and lasted until July 3.
Fan founded a karaoke center illegally in early 2005 and
procured "many women" to work as prostitutes there, the court
heard. Fan even drove to neighboring Sichuan Province to procure women for
prostitution.
The gang killed two people in separate assaults with other
gangs, the court said.
The gang was also convicted of assaulting more than 20 student
minors and extorting 38,900 yuan (US$5,186) from them.
"The gang carried out a number of illegal activities... and
seriously damaged local economic and public order," the court
said.
Police arrested Fan on Dec. 5, 2005. All other members of the
gang were detained prior to or after Fan's arrest.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)