Four brothers who headed a north China organized crime gang have been sentenced to death at the Hebei Provincial Higher People's Court.

Han Hongrui and Han Hongyi were sentenced to death and fined 6.51 million yuan (810,000 U.S. dollars) each, while Han Hongsheng and Han Hongjun were given death sentences with a two-year reprieve and also fined 6.51 million yuan each.

Thirty other members of the gang were jailed for terms from 20 years to life with fines from 100,000 to 200,000 yuan.

The court heard that from 1998 to 2002, the brothers, from Cangzhou of the province, led gang members to steal 7,288 tons of oil from the facilities of Dagong Oilfield Group Co. Ltd. in Tianjin Municipality, and Hebei and Shandong provinces. They were also convicted of damaging oil facilities.

They also stole 8,670 tons of oil from the mining area of the Dagang Oilfield Group and illegally traded 2,682 tons of refined oil valued at 4.77 million yuan.

The gang extracted 869 tons of oil from its own illegal wells, bribed officials for "protection", intentionally injured three people, illegally sold and possessed firearms, illegally occupied farmland and incited public disorder, the court heard.

Source: Xinhua