A drug-dealing St. Petersburg policeman who gunned down the detective investigating his illegal operations was sentenced to 26 years in a maximum security penal colony on Thursday.

Sergei Kirilchuk, a former policeman, was convicted in St. Petersburg city court of the murder of Dmitry Marininov, an officer in the Investigation Committee's internal investigations department.

Marininov, 28, was shot in the head and died near his home on January 15, 2009.

Kirilchuk was arrested and charged 2 months later.

Media reports said that Marininov himself had been involved in illegal activities, but had turned informer and was investigating Kirilchuk's drug-dealing operations when he died.