The trial of the Pruszków gang bosses-regarded as the first organized crime group in Poland-came to an end May 29 before the District Court in Warsaw. The trial was also the debut of the state witness system in Poland in such a comprehensive case.

The Pruszków bosses were convicted for founding and running an organized crime group, and for several other minor offenses like forgery. However, prosecutors failed to prove they were guilty of serious crimes like murder, robbery, extortion and drug trafficking.
Mirosław D., aka Malizna, received the highest sentence. He will spend 7 years and 3 months in prison. Janusz P., aka Parasol; Zygmunt R., aka Bolo; and Ryszard S., aka Kajtek were all sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment. Leszek D., aka Wańka, Malizna's brother, was sentenced to 6 and a half years. The latter had earlier been sentenced to 12 years for funding the trafficking of 1.2 tonnes of cocaine into Poland. The sentences are subject to appeal. Both the defense and the prosecution announced they would file appeals against it.

The sentences proved to be lower than those demanded by the prosecutor and certainly much lower than expected by the public. Most commentators believe it was significant that the defense failed to refute the testimony of state witnesses, which has established a crucial precedent for future trials against Mafia bosses.

The trial involved eight state witnesses. Each was a member of the gang who had agreed to testify against their former partners in crime in return for lighter penalties. The court recognized seven of them as credible. The most important of them was Jarosław Sokołowski, aka Masa. He was high enough in Pruszków's hierarchy to make the defense attempt to eliminate him from the case on the grounds that he was also one of the bosses. It seemed as if a gangster could not hope to be a state witness, yet Masa's testimony-which lasted 16 days-was recognized as credible and thus contributed to the prosecution's success.

This witness will also testify in other trials against the Pruszków gang, including that against Andrzej Z., aka Słowik. He is the gang's sixth boss and was seized in Spain. He was handed over to Polish authorities under extradition procedures and is now awaiting trial in a Polish jail.

The case of the Pruszków Mafia also had a political aspect. In Masa's testimony, connections between the gangsters and various politicians appeared. Yet these were not covered by the investigation. This also applies to testimonies concerning links to businesspeople, which are likely to be brought to light during future trials. Businesspeople who may have to face charges include former Senator Aleksander Gawronik, who has been referred to by the press as "the treasurer of Pruszków;" and former AWS Deputy Marek Kolasiński, who, according to the results of a preliminary investigation, also has links to organized crime groups.

he business aspect of the case is likely to be revealed during proceedings conducted by fiscal offices inspecting the property of the convicted gangsters. At the demand of prosecution authorities, fiscal offices are conducting almost 100 proceedings designed to monitor the sources of fortunes built up by the convicts' relatives, spouses and business partners. It is suspected that the bulk of the money coming from criminal activities has been hidden in real estate and in legally operating companies.

Prosecution authorities believe that a large part of the gangsters' property could have been transferred outside Poland and invested there with the help of international criminal groups.