Russia sentences U.S. national Leake to 13 years in jail for drug smuggling

MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Russian court on Thursday sentenced U.S. citizen Michael Travis Leake to 13 years in prison on drug smuggling charges, Moscow's court service said in a statement.

Leake, a musician and former U.S. paratrooper who was arrested in June 2023, was found guilty of selling drugs on a large scale, the court service said.

It was not clear how he pleaded and Reuters was not able to contact his lawyer.

Leake is one of about a dozen Americans currently held in Russian detention. Washington urges its citizens to leave Russia immediately, citing the threat of arrest and harassment amid the highest tensions between the two countries since the Cold War.

A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Moscow did not immediately reply to a request for comment on his conviction.

Another American, Robert Romanov Woodland, was sentenced by a Russian court to 12-1/2 years for drug smuggling earlier this month.

Leake was convicted alongside another defendant, a woman. The pair were shown standing in a court cage in brief videos published by the court service. Leake listened to the proceedings with a grim expression, at one point shaking his head.

Leake, who is in his early 50's, is a former songwriter in the rock band "Lovi Noch" ("Catch the night"). He also previously worked as an English teacher in Moscow and helped translate songs for Russian bands.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Andrew Osborn)