Former U.S. paratrooper and rock musician gets 13 years in Russian prison on drug charges

A former U.S. paratrooper and rock musician detained in Russia more than a year ago on drugs charges was on Thursday sentenced to 13 years in jail, Moscow's courts service said.

Michael Travis Leake, who fronted Moscow-based rock band Lovi Noch, was detained in June 2023 after prosecutors accused him of "organizing a drug dealing business involving young people."

Moscow's Khamovnitchesky court convicted him of offences linked to the sale of illegal narcotics, the courts service said in a post on Telegram.

It sentenced him to "13 years' imprisonment in a strict regime colony."

Leake was jailed alongside Veronika Grabanchuk, another defendant convicted of drugs offenses. Her relation to Leake was not immediately clear.

Arrests of U.S. citizens in Russia have increased in recent years, in what Washington sees as a Kremlin ploy to secure the release of Russians convicted abroad.

Among other American citizens held in Russian jails are former marines Robert Gilman and Paul Whelan, as well as Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.

Court officials said Thursday that closing arguments in Gershkovich's espionage trial will be held Friday.

Gershkovich's employer has denounced the trial as a sham and illegitimate and the State Department has declared him "wrongfully detained."

Authorities arrested Gershkovich on March 29, 2023 and claimed without offering any evidence that he was gathering secret information for the U.S. They said he was caught "red-handed" working for the CIA.

Russia has signaled the possibility of a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, but it says a verdict would have to come first. Even after a verdict, it still could take months or years.

The White House has warned U.S. citizens still in the country to "depart immediately" due to the risk of wrongful arrest.

In:
• Prison
• Russia

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