The Cherkessk City Court sentenced former head of the Stavropol Territory Traffic Police Alexey Safonov to 20 years in a strict regime penal colony. In addition, he was fined 100 million rubles and stripped of his rank of police colonel. The court also confiscated Safonov's property worth 21.8 million rubles.

The former head of the Stavropol Traffic Police stated that his guilt had not been proven.

"There is not a single piece of material evidence or operational-investigative material against me," he emphasized.

He was accused of creating a criminal community, accepting bribes and abuse of office.

Safonov and a number of his former subordinates were accused of receiving about 22 million rubles for ensuring the unimpeded passage of trucks through the territory of Stavropol Territory. Earlier, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, property worth 180 million rubles was seized from the former head of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate and his relatives. The list included 22 objects: apartments, cars, non-residential premises, houses and a mansion with golden toilets. No information about the legality of the sources from which the property was acquired was presented during the verification activities, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation noted in a statement.