The former first deputy mayor of the Siberian city of Berdsk, Evgeny Martyanov, was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison for abuse of power and the embezzlement of 46 million rubles, the Investigative Committee reported.
Martyanov has been found guilty, among other charges, of having sold municipal property at below-market prices and having used a fake diploma.
The prosecutor initially demanded that Martyanov be sentenced to seven years in a prison colony with the possibility of parole after two-and-a-half years of imprisonment. Martyanov's sentence was then reduced to five years because of his three young children and his poor health.
Martyanov is not Berdsk's first official to run into trouble with the law. In October, Vladimir Mukhamedov, the former vice-mayor of the city, was sentenced to compulsory labor for hindering business activity and using a forged document.
