Former U.S. paratrooper and musician Michael Travis Leake has been sentenced to 13 years in Russian prison on drug charges, a Moscow court's press service said on July 18.
Leake, who was a frontman of the Moscow-based band Lovi Noch, was detained in June 2023 over suspicions that he was "organizing a drug dealing business involving young people."
The American national was sentenced alongside another defendant, Veronika Grabanchuk, who was also convicted on drug charges and sent to prison for eight years. Her relationship with Leake is not immediately clear.
Leake, 52, denied the charges. He has lived in Russia for many years, working as an English teacher and rock musician.
The man is only one of many other U.S. nationals detained or jailed in Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Gershkovich was arrested in Yekaterinburg in late March 2023 on espionage charges while working on a story about the Wagner mercenary group's recruiting methods. Both he and the U.S. government denounced Russia's accusations.
The journalist had been in pre-trial detention in Russia for more than a year before his trial began in Yekaterinburg on June 26. The verdict is expected later on July 19.
Abbey Fenbert
