Lawyers file appeal against sentence to Investigative Committee officer Maksimenko
MOSCOW. April 27 (Interfax) - The defense lawyers for Mikhail Maksimenko, former head of the Investigative Committee's internal security department, who was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony for bribery, have filed an appeal.
"An appeal against the sentence was sent to the court today," Andrei Grivtsov, a lawyer for the convict, told Interfax on Thursday.
He earlier told the agency the defense lawyers for the former officer disagreed with the sentence.
The Moscow City Court on April 20 found Maksimenko guilty of taking two bribes worth a total of $550,000 and sentenced him to 13 years in a penal colony and a 165 million rubles fine. He was also stripped of his military rank of colonel.
The court and the investigators found that Maksimenko received the money from Sheikhametov for assistance with the release from detention and the softening of the charge against Andrei Kochuikov (the Italian), an associate of crime boss Zakhariy Kalashov (Shakro the Young), who was detained after a shootout near the restaurant Elements on Moscow's Rodchelskaya Street in December 2015. The officer received $50,000 from Shengelia for arranging a service inspection and opening a case against police officers who had conducted operative actions against the businessman and allegedly illegally seized his watch.
Maksimenko denies any involvement in the crimes.