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(CNN) — American citizen Travis Leake has been sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony in Russia, state media RIA Novosti reported Thursday, after he was detained on drug charges last year.
A Moscow court had accused the “former paratrooper and musician” of engaging in a narcotics business, according to RIA. Leake pleaded not guilty to the charges, Russian state media TASS said.
“I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t admit guilt, I don’t believe I could have done what I’m accused of because I don’t know what I’m accused of,” Leake reportedly said in his statement to police when he was arrested in June 2023, per tabloid outlet Ren TV.
His sentencing comes as diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow are at a historic low, with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine raging on. Leake is one of at least a dozen US citizens and dual nationals currently being detained in Russia, including Evan Gershkovich, the first American journalist to be arrested on espionage charges in the country since the Cold War.
Leake is a frontman in Lovi Noch, which translates to “Catch the Night,” and was also a producer for other music groups in Moscow. In 2014, he expressed his frustrations with censorship as part of an interview with CNN. Host Anthony Bourdain personally chose Leake for the episode of Parts Unknown in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
From January to June 2023, Leake allegedly purchased narcotic drugs from an accomplice in another criminal case, Russian state media reported, citing Moscow’s prosecutor’s office.
Leake packaged the narcotics for sale, prosecutors said, after which he transferred the drugs to an accomplice to hide. He and the accomplice made four attempts to sell over 40 grams of mephedrone (also known as “meow-meow”), according to the court.
According to investigators, Leake also kept more than 1.6 grams of the narcotic substance at his home, as well as tablets containing MDMA, all of which were confiscated during operational activities.
A second person involved in the case was also found guilty and sentenced to time in a penal colony, Russian state media reported Thursday.
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