.A past U.S. paratrooper and rock musician detained in Russia greater than a year ago on medicine fees was penalized to thirteen years in prison on Thursday, the Moscow court of law unit's media solution said.Michael Travis Leake, who fronted the Moscow-based stone band Lovi Noch, was restrained in June 2023 after prosecutors charged him of "organizing a drug working organization involving youngsters.".Moscow's Khamovnitchesky Court discovered him responsible of crimes connected to the sale of illegal anesthetics, the courtroom's media service stated in a message on Telegram. He was actually sentenced to 13 years in a maximum-security jail swarm.Leake was actually incarcerated alongside Veronika Grabanchuk, yet another accused pronounced guilty of medicine charges. Her association to Leake was certainly not immediately crystal clear.Arrests of USA citizens in Russia have boosted over the last few years, in what Washington views as a Kremlin tactic to secure the release of Russians sentenced abroad.To name a few United States residents kept in Russian jails are actually former marines Robert Gilman and Paul Whelan, along with reporters Evan Gershkovich as well as Alsu Kurmasheva.