On this picture taken from video launched by means of Khamovnichesky District Court docket press carrier on July 18, U.S. citizen Michael Travis Leake stands in a cage in a Moscow court ahead of being convicted of drug trafficking fees and sentenced to 13 years in jail.
AP/Khamovnichesky District Court docket press carrier
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AP/Khamovnichesky District Court docket press carrier
A Russian court docket has sentenced the U.S. citizen Michael Travis Leake to 13 years in jail on drug fees, in line with global media experiences. Moscow’s Khamovnitchesky Court docket discovered the rock musician and previous paratrooper accountable and ordered him to serve the sentence in a maximum-security jail colony, The Moscow Instances reported closing week.
Leake was once arrested in June of closing yr on suspicion of marketing the drug mephedrone, an offense that can have landed him a 20-year jail time period. Russia’s Interfax information company stated on the time that Leake was once accused of organizing a drug trafficking trade “involving younger other folks.” Russian court docket officers have known Leake as a former paratrooper with the U.S. army. Leake has additionally performed in numerous Russian rock bands, together with the Moscow-based crew he fronted, Lovi Noch.
The U.S. State Division didn’t instantly reply to a request for a remark concerning the sentencing. In a video of Leake that circulated after his arrest closing yr, he stated he wasn’t admitting any guilt and didn’t know what he was once being accused of. Leake’s mom, Glenda Garcia, advised The Gentleman Report closing yr that she was once bothered by means of her son’s scenario. “In fact, I’m frightened. In fact, I’m involved, ” Garcia stated. “He’s in jail out of the country, that could be a worry.” Additionally closing week, a Russian court docket sentenced Wall Boulevard Magazine correspondent Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in jail on espionage fees, which he denies. Wall Boulevard Magazine executives have known as Gershkovich’s conviction a sham, and President Biden says the U.S. is pushing for the American reporter’s liberate.
