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.

        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 that 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 controversy resulted in a duplicate set of gold medals for Canadian pairs team.

        Wiretaps used in a mob investigation captured a series of telephone calls between Tokhtakhounov and unnamed conspirators during the games that “lay out a pattern of conduct that connects those two events,” U.S. attorney James Comey said.

        Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the gold medal, defeating Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. But French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne said the next day she'd been pressured to vote for the Russians.

        Le Gougne later recanted but was suspended, as was the head of the French skating federation, Didier Gailhaguet. Neither returned messages, but Le Gougne's lawyer, Erik Christiansen, said she “has no involvement and no knowledge of this person or these allegations.”

        The ice dancing team of Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat won France's first gold in figure skating since 1932 by a 5-4 judging split.

        Tokhtakhounov was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bribery relating to sporting contests.

FBI investigated during Games

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