The leaders of the Parkstad gang were sentenced Tuesday afternoon to prison terms ranging from three to more than five years. That is more than prosecutor Joan Holthuis had demanded.

The M. family formed the core of a gang whose main focus was stealing and rechucking expensive cars on an ongoing basis. Prohibited weapons possession was also widespread.

'Godfather'

Pascal M. (45), 'the godfather' must serve 4.5 years in prison. His wife Elizabeth (44) received 3 years in prison. Son Romano (22), who has an impressive criminal record for his age, received the heaviest sentence: 63 months. Or more than five years.

A dozen relatively young men, convicted as members of a criminal organization, must serve prison sentences ranging from 18 to 30 months for their part.

The Parkstad gang, said to have consisted of 75 mostly juvenile members, is suspected of having engaged in residential burglaries, car and motorcycle thefts, fencing, weapons possession, money laundering and drug trafficking in varying compositions between 2015 and 2017 throughout the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion.