MOSCOW, January 29 (RAPSI) – A court in Russia’s northern city of Neftyugansk in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region has sentenced six members of an organized criminal group to prison terms for an attempt to steal oil by tampering with a pipeline, according to the press-service of the regional prosecutor office.

In late 2013, the members of the gang established an unauthorized tie-in to a pipeline belonging to Rosneft oil corporation, thus causing damage evaluated at 19 million rubles (about $338,000). The criminals were later apprehended by the law enforcement officers.

The court sentenced the defendants to prison terms varying from 2.5 years to 4.5 years.