Russian mobster charged with trying to rig Olympic skating

NEW YORK -- A reputed Russian crime boss was arrested Wednesday on charges he fixed two figure skating events at the Salt Lake City Games by arranging a vote-swapping deal, yet another bizarre twist in a scandal that has tainted the sport.

Alimzan Tokhtakhounov, picked up in Italy on U.S. charges, is accused of scheming to get a French judge to vote for the Russian pairs team, which won the gold medal. In exchange, he arranged for the Russian judge to vote for the winning French ice dancing team, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

The judging controversy, the biggest in Olympic history, resulted in a duplicate set of gold medals being awarded to the Canadian pairs team.

Wiretaps used in a mob investigation captured a series of telephone calls between Tokhtakhounov in Italy and unnamed conspirators during the games that "lay out a pattern of conduct that connects those two events," U.S. Attorney James Comey told a news conference.

The suspect "arranged a classic quid pro quo: 'You'll line up support for the Russian pair, we'll line up support for the French pair and everybody will go away with the gold, and perhaps there'll be a little gold for me,"' Comey said.

Prosecutors said that Tokhtakhounov hoped he would be rewarded with a visa to return to France, where he once lived.

Tokhtakhounov faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.