Life term upheld for crime boss

An Athens appeals court on Monday upheld life sentences against convicted crime boss Panayiotis Vlastos and two more members of his crime syndicate.

The court rejected the appeals of Vlastos, Giorgos Katsayiannis and Aristomenis Kleftoyiannis, who had been sentenced to life terms. It also upheld sentences of between seven and 18 years for another 11 people.

Vlastos, 46, who has been in and out of prison for the past two decades, told the court, that he is "finished with crime."

Among the crimes attributed to Vlastos's syndicate are the murder of businessman Giorgos Gousios in 2008 and the kidnapping of shipowner Pericles Panagopoulos in January 2009.