MOSCOW, July 2 (RAPSI) – The Moscow Regional Court on Tuesday gave a member of the infamous GTA gang Khazratkhon Dodokhonov, who had been earlier sentenced to life for robberies and murders, to 20 years in prison as part of the 2017 escape case, RAPSI reported from the courtroom.

The man was found guilty of stealing weapons from law enforcement officers, threatening their life and attempted escape during shooting in the court.

According to investigators, Kholik Subkhanov, Fazritdin Khasanov, Abdumukim Mamadtchonov, Mirzomavlon Mirzosharipov and Dodokhonov, who were at the time charged with banditry, murder, robbery and other grave crimes, conspired to escape from building of the court on August 1, 2017.  After stealing weapons of the guards, the defendants opened fire on officers of police and National Guard. During the shooting four of the five attackers were killed.

Later, it was established that Dodokhonov, the sole survivor among the defendants, was behind the initial attack.

In August 2018, the court sentenced four gang members to life in prison, another one received a 20-year prison term. The court also recovered nearly 2 million rubles (about $30,000) from the defendants. Five GTA Gang case defendants were found guilty of robberies and murders. In May 2018, a prosecutor asked the court to sentence the defendants to prison terms ranging from 25 years to life and fine four of them 700,000 – 900,000 rubles ($11,000 – $14,000).

On August 1, 2016, nine defendants pleaded partially guilty to the charges. According to investigators, in March 2012, Ibaydullo Suyhanov organized a gang in the Moscow Region. The gang consisted of at least 15 people from Central Asian countries.

Allegedly, the gang members were behaving without raising anyone’s suspicions. They worked as taxi drivers, construction workers, guards, many of them had families.

Prosecutors claimed that from 2012 to 2014 the gang committed 15 robberies resulted in the murder of 17 people and attempted murder of another two. Moreover, the gang members were allegedly behind numerous attacks against automobile drivers. The criminals were installing handmade spikes on the roads causing drivers to stop and murdered victims for their possessions afterward, according to prosecutors.

The gang leader was killed in an armed stand-off with the police. Five other members of the gang left Russia and were put on the international wanted list.

Russian media called the perpetrators of murders in the Moscow Region and M-4 Don highway a GTA gang as a reference to the popular videogame.