2 gang leaders sentenced to death, 2 to life imprisonment in southwestern China

2 gangsters sentenced to death in China

BEIJING — Two mob bosses were sentenced to death Thursday for gambling, bribery and assault in the latest series of gang prosecutions in southwestern China, state media reported.

The Chongqing No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Chen Mingliang and Zhou Yong to death as part of a group of 34 people who stood trial in a crackdown on the city’s violent underworld, according to the Web site of the People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party.

Two other gang leaders were given life in prison, the report said.

The verdict comes two days after Chongqing’s former police chief Wen Qiang went on trial for rape and accepting bribes in exchange for protecting the city’s extensive gang network.

Wen, who was detained in August, has been accused of protecting gang operations masterminded by his sister-in-law, Xie Caiping, 46, known as the “godmother” of the Chinese underworld. Xie was sentenced to 18 years in prison in November for running illegal casinos and bribing government officials.

The trials are part of a series of gang prosecutions in Chongqing that have featured lurid testimony about sex, corruption, and violence.

The People’s Daily said gang leaders like Chen and Zhou used hotels they owned as havens for prostitution and illegal drugs.

Chongqing, an industrial metropolis in the southwest, has a long history of underworld activities and was the target of a government crackdown last year.