QINGDAO - A Chinese court Tuesday sent 32 gang members to jail for violent crimes in the eastern port city of Qingdao.

The Qingdao Municipal Intermediate People's Court sentenced the gang leader Nie Lei to death. Another principal member received death with a two-year reprieve. The other 30 received jail terms ranging from two years to life imprisonment.

Nie was convicted on several counts, including intentionally injuring others and running a mafia-style gang, the court ruled.

Prosecutors said the defendants were involved in underworld gang activities, such as operating casinos, organizing prostitution rings and illegal possession of guns, in Qingdao from 1995.

Their violent crimes had led to the death of two people and the injury of 22 others.