A Moscow court has handed a fifteen-year maximum-security prison sentence to Alexei Kopaygorodsky, the former mayor of Sochi, following convictions for bribery, embezzlement, and money laundering. Kopaygorodsky, who resigned in May 2024 before briefly joining military efforts in Ukraine, was arrested in September of that year. His wife, Yanina Kopaygorodskaya, received a ten-year sentence for her role as an accomplice, while an assistant was issued a fine. The court ordered both the former mayor and his spouse to pay significant financial penalties totaling half a billion rubles each. Furthermore, the judge imposed a long-term ban on Kopaygorodsky holding public office and stripped him of his state honors. Prosecutors successfully argued that the couple engaged in illicit activities involving municipal land and substantial bribes from local developers between 2022 and 2024.
Source : The Moscow Times
