Alexander Bortnikov made mephedrone at his grandfather's country house.
Bortnikov was asked if he understood the verdict, and he cheerfully confirmed from the cage that he did.
On January 11, the Yaroslavl Regional Court announced the verdict for a 29-year-old former deputy. Alexander Bortnikov and his friends – 27-year-old Artem Lebedev and 22-year-old Egor Tarasov set up a drug lab and made mephedrone.
To acknowledge guilt of the crime. Bortnikov Alexander was sentenced to 15 years and three months in prison without losing the right to hold certain positions, without a fine. Judge Evgeny Balaev announced the verdict, stating that the punishment term will start from the sentence's legal effect date.
Lebedev received a 15 years and 3 months sentence, while Tarasov got 10 years and 3 months, both in a strict regime colony.
Selling drugs at the grandfather's country house.
At around 11 am, people started gathering in the large hall of the regional court. One guy's mother, a platinum blonde with strong perfume, appeared at the door. Shortly after, Bortnikov's father, a former deputy, came in; he made a lot of phone calls and tried to avoid attention. He was finding it hard and nervously accepting reality.
Relatives, including parents, wives, grandparents, and even distant relatives, gathered in court to hear the case's decision.
As per the investigators, Alexander Bortnikov, a former deputy of United Russia and the general director of Elite Kvartal publication, together with Yegor Tarasov and Artem Lebedev, organized a drug lab. They fully admitted their guilt.
Alexander Bortnikov's father, Igor, was a Yaroslavl municipality deputy, the owner of the Elite Quarter magazine, founder of a real estate agency, and a charitable foundation for helping animals called 'Life is given for good deeds.' Igor Bortnikov also serves as the president of the Yaroslavl tennis club. After his son's arrest, he did not run for election in the new municipality.
A workshop for making mephedrone was established at Bortnikov's grandfather's country house in the Gavrilov-Yamsky district of the Yaroslavl region.
The judge emphasized several times that the crime was premeditated. After monotonously reading the verdict text for ten minutes, Yevgeny Balaev became more animated and started reprimanding the newly sentenced. The judge made it clear that this was a complete crime and not just an attempt, stating that the production took place at Bortnikov's grandfather's house, where the equipment was assembled. The judge also critiqued the defendants for not having a chemical education, emphasizing that it was indeed a production and not just a mixture of two components.
The company went unnoticed from September 2021 to January 2022. After the January holidays, they were discovered by FSB officers.
The authorities confiscated equipment, materials for drugs, and the first batch of goods. They found a significant amount: 17 kilograms of prohibited substances and 112 kilograms of precursors.
Precursors of narcotic drugs are substances used for making narcotic and psychotropic drugs.
The organizers of the crime have not been identified. They included Lebedev in the crime, and later Lebedev, after agreeing to prepare premises for drug production, brought in Bortnikov for this activity. Tarasov was the last to be involved. All instructions came from Bortnikov and Lebedev, they received recipes, manufacturing methods, and locations of drug precursors via instant messengers. Tarasov was not aware of this, but he took part in the proceedings,” the prosecutor said. The judge noted that Bortnikov did not fully realize what had been done.
After the initial interrogations, it became clear that according to the charges presented, all three could face 20 years in prison or even a life sentence. But the judge gave a more lenient sentence.
The minimum penalty has been imposed. Yes, positive characteristics, fifth, tenth, all this is taken into account. And if this were not the case, then there could be 18 years, and 20 years. I don’t know how much,” the judge reasoned after the verdict was announced.
The youngest Tarasov was given the least.
Here, with all that they have done, the role of Tarasov, as it were, evokes some kind of pity. They just used it for their own purposes. This is not in the case file, but how can you guess, why did they come to him in the army? They are not the closest comrades. We arrived, found out what he wants to do, – the judge explained. – Surely, they already had a plan to take Tarasov. As he explained, he did what he was told, was on errands.
This is all in a non-contact way through the caches. Also, an unidentified person sent information via instant messengers that there was a cache of precursors, equipment, and so on in a certain place,” said Elena Leonidova, prosecutor of the criminal court department of the Yaroslavl Region Prosecutor’s Office. Relatives did not know about what was happening in the village house. The uncle of the defendant Yegor Tarasov, the Olympic champion, Maxim Tarasov, speaks briefly about the case of his nephew.
“Nice people, everyone agrees”
Three drug traffickers were sentenced to more than 40 years in prison. The court found that a company that did not need money lacked adrenaline.
The judge continued to discuss morality by saying, “Good guys, yes, good, no one argues. They were. And maybe they are now. But they started to do what they couldn't. They began to engage in illegal activities. Everything went well for everyone, and, apparently, there was not enough for some, maybe Bortnikov, adrenaline or something else. Instead of living quietly, working, and raising their beloved children, they decided to earn money by producing drugs.
judge Evgeny Balaev
Those present accepted the judge’s decision and reasoning in silence. Bortnikov Jr.'s wife quietly wiped her tears with the long sleeve of a woolen sweater. The girl did not take her eyes off the cage with her lover.
During his testimony, Bortnikov claimed that he had not killed anyone. Yes, he himself did not kill anyone, but if the FSB officers had not stopped this crime, 17 kilograms or even one gram, and even a smaller amount, would have been sold as doses. More than 20,000 people would buy these drugs. Where would they get the money to buy it? Or maybe someone was killed and property was seized. These circumstances determine his guilt – whether he killed or not, the judge continued to explain his decision.
At the same time, Lebedev’s previous involvement with drugs was not taken into account. A few years ago, he had a criminal record for buying substances for personal use.
“It [the case] was also related to the illegal circulation of narcotic drugs for personal consumption, but now the criminal record has been expunged and at the time of the crime he was considered not convicted,” explained the state prosecutor in the case, Elena Leonidova.
“worried about the worst outcome”
Before leaving the courtroom, the relatives began to take off their masks and smile at the criminals. Each family took the verdict differently.
“Have you seen the verdicts in such cases? It should have been less,” emotionally replied Igor Bortnikov to 76.RU.
But grandmother Tarasova admitted that her expectations were not met.
“I was afraid of the worst,” the gray-haired woman said briefly.
The unexpected appearance of 52-year-old athlete and Olympic champion Maxim Tarasov surprised those present. He turned out to be a relative of one of the convicts.
Every person comes into life to have adventures. Sometimes adventures are amusing, sometimes they are sad. These guys will go through their own adventures. And before that, they had their own adventures, and ahead of them, there will be long, long, interesting ones. And for their parents and grandparents,” the athlete told reporters.
Lawyers refused to give any comments.
The verdict is not final. Bortnikov, Lebedev, and Tarasov can still appeal against the court’s decision.
