Chinese court upholds death penalty for criminal gang leader

Shandong Provincial Higher People's Court upheld a death sentence verdict for criminal gang leader Nie Lei.

The court rejected Nie's appeal for a lighter penalty.

Nie was tried along with 31 other gang members at the Qingdao Municipal Intermediate People's Court, in March.

Nie was convicted on several counts, including intentionally injuring others and running a mafia-style gang, which operated underground casinos, organised prostitution rings and illegally possessed guns in Qingdao city from 1995.

Their crimes led to the death of two people and 22 others being injured, state-run Xinhua reported.