Former World Boxing Champ Sentenced for His Alleged Role in ‘Elite' Criminal Enterprise

A former world boxing champion has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role as an enforcer for an “elite” criminal enterprise, according to federal authorities in New York.

Avtandil Khurtsidze was sentenced after being convicted in June of one count of racketeering and one count wire fraud conspiracy.

Khurtsidze, 38 and of Kutaisi, Republic of Georgia, is a former middleweight boxing champion and heavyweight enforcer for Razhden Shulaya of the Shulaya Enterprise — a criminal group from the former Soviet Union.

According to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, citing court documents, the Shulaya Enterprise was an organized criminal group operating under the direction and protection of Razhden Shulaya, a “vor v zakone” or “vor,” which are Russian phrases translated roughly to “Thief-in-Law” or “Thief,” and which refer to an order of elite criminals from the former Soviet Union who receive tribute from other criminals, offer protection and use their recognized status as a “vor” to settle disputes among lower-level criminals.

As an alleged “vor,” Shulaya had influence in the criminal underworld and offered assistance to and protection of the members and associates of the Shulaya Enterprise, court documents say, adding that the members, associates, and Shulaya himself engaged in criminal activities.

Such activities allegedly included acts of violence, extortion, operating illegal gambling businesses, casino fraud, identity theft, credit card frauds, trafficking in stolen goods, money laundering, bribing local law enforcement officers and the operation of a Brooklyn-based brothel, according to indictments and court files.

Khurtsidze acted as Shulaya’s chief enforcer, a role in which he allegedly engaged in multiple acts of extortion and violence, court documents state.

Khurtsidze was allegedly captured on video assaulting others in service of the Shulaya Enterprise twice. He also allegedly participated in recorded acts of extortion of gambling debts and planned additional acts of violence against those he felt disrespected his “vor.”

Additionally, prosecutors claim that Khurtsidze participated in a scheme to defraud casinos by targeting particular models of electronic slot machines using a complicated algorithm designed to predict the behavior of those machines.

In order to go forth with the scheme, Shulaya and other members of the Enterprise allegedly obtained the technology used to commit that fraud through violence, including kidnapping a software engineer in Las Vegas in 2014.

In addition to his decade-long prison term, Khurtsidze was also sentenced to two years of supervised release.