GUANGZHOU, May 16 -- A Chinese court has sentenced 27 mafia-style gang members to up to 20 years in jail after convicting them of intentionally causing injuries, illegal detention and owning explosives among other crimes.

Hu Weixing, leader of the gang and chairman of a local real estate development company, got 20 years in jail and 26 others received jail terms ranging from one year and seven months to 19 years, said the Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou, in the capital of south China's Guangdong Province, on Thursday.

In the first-instance verdict, the court ruled that the trial of four gang members should be terminated as the time limit for prosecutions concerning their crimes had been exceeded. Three others were exempted from criminal penalties as their criminal activities were minor.

Since 2004, Hu gathered his family members and other ex-convicts to carry out such illegal activities as coercive land requisitions, operation of gambling houses, illegal injuries and provocations, said the court.

He was convicted of injuring one person seriously and two slightly, beating and illegally detaining others, owning explosives and destroying public and private properties.

In July 2004, Hu asked three people to slash Hu Yuhui with knives in revenge for the victim's reporting of his criminal activities to authorities. The three were later paid by Hu.

In March 2010, Hu hired others to pour sulfuric acid onto the back of a local judge surnamed Ke, who had presided over a lawsuit that Hu lost. The judge was slightly injured in the attack.

Hu and others gained profits of 48 million yuan (7.8 million U.S. dollars) through casinos they set up between 2011 and 2012, according the court.

Hu was detained with other members in June 2012 in a police raid of his company. The gang members stood trial in February this year.