Against the background of rising tensions between the US and Russia, an American soldier was detained back in May in the Russian city of Vladivostok.
He was held on charges of theft and threats to kill his girlfriend, and has now been found guilty and sentenced to three years and nine months in a Russian penal colony.
New York Post reported:
“Gordon Black, a 34-year-old US staff sergeant who was detained on May 2 in Vladivostok in Russia’s far east, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of threatening to kill his girlfriend but admitted he was “partially” guilty of stealing from her.
Black’s defense lawyer will appeal the verdict, said RIA agency, which reported the judge handing down the sentence of “imprisonment of three years and nine months” for both charges.”
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Russian prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence of four years and eight months.
Black reportedly has partially acknowledged his guilt on the charge of stealing 10,000 roubles ($113) from his girlfriend Alexandra Vashchuk’s purse.
The staff sergeant said that ‘there was no intent’.
Read: ANOTHER ONE: American Tourist Arrested in Russia for Alleged Drunken ‘Hooliganism’
Black and Vashchuk met in South Korea, where Black was stationed. After that, he broke army rules by traveling to Russia without authorization.
Meanwhile, Black has a wife and child in Texas.
There are about a dozen American citizens in Russian prisons.
That includes Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, set to go on trial next week on charges of espionage.
