MOSCOW -- The former head of the Moscow branch of Russia's Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Drymanov, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for accepting a bribe from a notorious crime boss.
The Moscow City Court on March 18 found Drymanov guilty of taking $1 million from Zakhary Kalashov, known among organized criminal groups as Shakro Molodoi, in exchange for the release of one of Kalashov's associates from custody.
The court also deprived Drymanov of the rank of police general and his For Service to the Fatherland medal.
Drymanov's two co-defendants in the case, two former subordinates, were sentenced to 10 years and 14 years in prison, respectively.
Drymanov was arrested in July 2018, weeks after he resigned from his post.
Kalashov is known as a "thief by law," a title traditionally given among criminal groups in former Soviet republics to kingpins. He was sentenced in March 2018 to 9 years and 10 months in prison on extortion charges.