Avtandil Khurstidze, a Georgian boxing champion, was found guilty of racketeering and related charges in connection with a sprawling and violent criminal enterprise operating in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and abroad, – the US Department of Justice said.

“As a unanimous jury found, Razhden Shulaya [Russian so-called thief-in-law] and his chief enforcer, Avtandil Khurtsidze, engaged in an array of criminal schemes that included violence, extortion, theft, trafficking in stolen goods, and fraud. Shulaya, a Russian ‘vor v zakone’ or ‘thief-in-law,’ is now a convicted thief under U.S. law. Both defendants now await sentencing for their crimes,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said.

The penalty is unknown at this stage. The judge will announce the decision on September 21. According to preliminary information, Khurtidze faces 40 years of imprisonment.

15 people were arrested in July of 2017 in the U.S. accused of being the members of a Russian criminal syndicate. Two Georgian athletes – Avtandil Khurtsidze and Levan Makashvili were among the detainees. Makashvili was shortly released. Khurtsidze remained in pre-trial detention.