Former Russian Lawmaker Dzhabrailov Fined Over Moscow Hotel Gunshots

Chechen businessman Umar Dzhabrailov attends a court hearing in Moscow on November 22.

Former Russian Federation Council member Umar Dzhabrailov has been fined 500,000 rubles ($23,000) for discharging a firearm in a posh Moscow hotel in August.

Moscow's Tverskoi district court handed down the sentence on November 22 after convicting Dzhabrailov of "hooliganism involving the use of a weapon."

The maximum penalty was up to five years in prison, and prosecutors had sought a two-year suspended prison term.

Dzhabrailov was given an additional 4,000-ruble fine for using narcotics.

In court, Dzhabrailov acknowledged guilt and offered his apologies "to the party that supposedly considers itself a victim."

Police arrested Dzhabrailov on August 29 at the Four Seasons Hotel, in the heart of Moscow near the Kremlin. He had fired several shots from a ceremonial pistol and a white powder that was later determined to be cocaine was found in his room.

He later claimed he had fired the shots into the ceiling "in despair" after undergoing a breakdown.

Dzhabrailov, a businessman, represented the executive branch of the government of Chechnya in the Federation Council, Russia's upper parliament house, from 2004 until 2009.

Based on reporting by RBK, Radio Mayak, and RIA Novosti