Penza, 12 January 2016. PenzaNews. Andrei Zuev, deputy of the Penza region Legislative Assembly of the fifth convocation for the CPRF faction, was found guilty in crime under Art. 163 of the Criminal Code, “Extortion,” in the sentence by the Gorodische area court announced on Tuesday, January 12, judge assistant Natalya Deberdeeva told PenzaNews agency.

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“Zuev was found guilty of committing crimes under Paragraph V, Part 2, Art. 163 of the Criminal Code; Paragraph A, Part 2, Art. 163 of the Criminal Code; Paragraph A, Part 2, Art. 163 of the Criminal Court; and Part 3, Art. 33, Part 1, Art. 163 of the Criminal Code. Overall, after partial addition of punishment, Zuev was assigned a sentence of 6 years in general penal colony,” she clarified.

At the same time, Natalya Deberdeeva added, Mikhail Kutyrkin, who was found guilty under Paragraph A, Part 2, Art. 163 of the Criminal Code, “Extortion,” was sentenced to 3 years in general penal colony.

“Oleg Gorshilin was found guilty of committing crimes under Paragraph A, Part 2, Art. 163 of the Criminal Code, and sentenced to 2 years in general penal colony,” the judge assistant added.

However, Natalya Deberdeeva explained, Andrei Zuev, Mikhail Kutyrkin and Oleg Gorshilin were released under Art. 78 of the Criminal Code because the statute of limitation has expired.

“The sentence has not entered into force,” she stressed.

The interviewee also noted that Andrei Zuev, formerly held in custody, was released on pledge not to leave town, active until the sentence enters into force.

“Mikhail Kutyrkin and Oleg Gorshilin already were released on pledge not to leave town. The charges against two more defendants had been dropped earlier,” she recalled.

As PenzaNews agency reported earlier, Andrei Zuev, deputy of the Penza region Legislative Assembly of the fifth convocation for the CPRF faction, was detained on 4 January 2013 on charges of orchestrating a criminal gang “Zuevskiye.” During the press conference held on the same day, the then acting head of the regional Ministry of the Interior department Yuri Ruzlyaev and the head of the regional Investigative Committee branch Oleg Troshin announced the first details of the law enforcement operation.

The investigation of the crimes related to the deputy was one of the first resounding cases for Yuri Ruzlyaev who headed the Penza region Ministry of the Interior department in August 2013.

Back at the time of detention, Georgy Kamnev, first secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region, reacted by saying the case was a political one. Later on, in spring of 2015,the deputy confirmed his words and added that the end of investigation against Andrei Zuev was made to coincide with the beginning of the Penza gubernatorial election campaign.

The Gorodische area court received the criminal case on 31 March 2015, with a total of 5 people, including Andrei Zuev, as defendants.

On April 22, the court dropped criminal charges against two of the defendants accused of hooliganism.