Court reduces one charge in Khodorkovsky trial

The Moscow court reading the verdict in the trial of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Thursday said it considers him guilty of fraud, but under a section of the criminal code that carries a slightly lighter sentence than he was charged with.

In the fourth day of the laborious verdict process, the judge said Khodorkovsky and co-defendant Platon Lebedev had committed theft by fraud, but said the actions violated a law calling for 4-10 years' imprisonment rather than 5-10 years as the original charge had stated.

Associated Press