this photo taken from televisione released by Khamovnichesky District Court press service acceso Thursday, U.S. citizen Michael Travis Leake stands per mezzo di a cage per mezzo di a Moscow courtroom before being convicted of drug trafficking charges and sentenced to 13 years per mezzo di prison.
Khamovnichesky District Court press service/AP
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Khamovnichesky District Court press service/AP
A Russian court has sentenced the U.S. citizen Michael Travis Leake to 13 years per mezzo di prison acceso drug charges, according to international mass-media reports.
Moscow’s Khamovnitchesky Court found the rock musician and former paratrooper guilty and ordered him to serve the sentence per mezzo di a maximum-security prison colony, The Moscow Times reported last week.
Leake was arrested per mezzo di June of last year acceso suspicion of selling the drug mephedrone, an offense that could have landed him a 20-year prison term.
Russia’s Interfax news agency said at the time that Leake was accused of organizing a drug trafficking business “involving young people.”
Russian court officials have identified Leake as a former paratrooper with the U.S. military. Leake has also played per mezzo di several Russian rock bands, including the Moscow-based group he fronted, Lovi Noch.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for a comment about the sentencing.
a televisione of Leake that circulated after his arrest last year, he said he wasn’t admitting any guilt and didn’t know what he was being accused of.
Leake’s mother, Glenda Garcia, told CNN last year that she was troubled by her son’s situation. “Of course, I am worried. Of course, I am concerned, ” Garcia said. “He’s per mezzo di prison per mezzo di a foreign country, that is a concern.”
Also last week, a Russian court sentenced Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich to 16 years per mezzo di prison acceso espionage charges, which he denies.
Wall Street Journal executives have called Gershkovich’s conviction a sham, and President Biden says the U.S. is pushing for the American ’s release.
