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A US citizen has been sentenced to 12.5 years at a most safety penal colony by a Russian courtroom after being convicted on medicine fees. <\/p>\n
Robert Woodland, 32, was detained in Moscow in January and accused by prosecutors of looking for to promote a big amount of methadone. His lawyer instructed the Reuters information company that he had partially confessed to the fees.<\/p>\n
Mr Woodland, who was born in Russia and adopted when he was two, had travelled to the nation in 2020 to seek out his start mom. His journey was documented by a Russian actuality TV programme.<\/p>\n
He’s the most recent US citizen to be imprisoned within the nation, with some Western officers suggesting the Kremlin is “hoarding” Individuals to commerce for allies and operatives imprisoned overseas. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In an announcement launched after Mr Woodland’s conviction on Thursday, Russian prosecutors stated he had been caught whereas packaging a big amount of narcotics at an condominium within the Russian capital. <\/p>\n
They claimed he had been working with a large-scale legal group and had transported 50-grams of the drug from a pick-up level outdoors the town. <\/p>\n
His lawyer, Stanislav Kshevitsky, had initially denied the fees, saying officers had introduced “no proof” of drug gross sales earlier than the courtroom. <\/p>\n
However he instructed the Reuters information company on Wednesday that Mr Woodland had confessed to a few of the allegations in opposition to him. It stays unclear which fees he has accepted. <\/p>\n
Footage carried by state media in Russia confirmed Mr Woodland sitting inside a glass cage in courtroom, staring impassively forward as the decision in opposition to him was learn out. <\/p>\n
Russian media reported that Mr Woodland determined to stay within the nation after assembly his mom in 2020 and labored as an English instructor close to Moscow. His tearful reunion together with his mom was broadcast on state tv on the time. <\/p>\n
The Interfax information company stated he holds US and Russian citizenship. <\/p>\n
Not less than a dozen US nationals, together with journalists and energetic responsibility troopers, are at the moment being held in Russian prisons and penal colonies. <\/p>\n
Amongst these is Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Road Journal reporter detained over a yr in the past on espionage fees which he denies. The US considers him to be “wrongfully detained”<\/a>.<\/p>\n Western officers have lengthy suspected that Moscow is looking for to detain Western residents to make use of as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps. US regulation prohibits the cost of ransoms to terror teams, however successive administrations have been prepared to supply concessions to different states to safe the discharge of Individuals. <\/p>\n That is what occurred to Brittney Griner, who was launched on the finish of 2022 in a prisoner swap with the US in return for the controversial Russian arms supplier Victor Bout.<\/p>\n Whereas the US state division stated earlier this yr that it was conscious of Mr Woodland’s case, it averted commenting immediately on the allegations. <\/p>\n As an alternative, it issued an announcement saying it \u201chas no larger precedence than the security and safety of US residents abroad”.<\/p>\n US officers have repeatedly warned US residents in Russia to depart the nation, citing the chance of wrongful arrest and harassment by authorities. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n