A court in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Friday sentenced a gang leader to death with reprieve and 17 others to jail terms ranging from 8 months to 20 years.

Chen Kunzhi, a former policeman, was given the death penalty with a 2-year reprieve and a fine of more than 300 million yuan (43.94 million U.S. dollars) after No. 3 Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing convicted him of murder, running illegal casinos, illegal money lending, leading a mafia-style organization and other crimes.

Xie Gang, a protector of Chen and former deputy head of Chongqing's police on economic crimes, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for taking 2.9-million-yuan bribes.

The trials, which started in mid-December 2009, were part of a massive crackdown on organized crimes in Chongqing.

Chen Kunzhi and 12 others told the court that they would appeal, while the rest five have yet to decide.

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