Last member of notorious Czech ‘Berdych gang’ extradited from US

Czech criminal investigators have taken into custody Jaromír Prokop, the last at-large member of the so-called Berdych gang, who was extradited from the United States.

Prokop, whom the American police caught last spring, had been convicted in absentia to 13.5 years in prison for the kidnapping and death of a goldsmith in 1996 and numerous robberies.

At its height, the Berdych gang is believed to have had some 50 members. It specialized in kidnapping businessmen and heists, in some cases with the aid of police. In 2004 around 40 gang members were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.