.A previous united state paratrooper and stone entertainer apprehended in Russia much more than a year back on medicine charges was penalized to thirteen years in prison on Thursday, the Moscow court system's press solution mentioned.Michael Travis Leake, that fronted the Moscow-based stone band Lovi Noch, was detained in June 2023 after prosecutors accused him of "coordinating a drug dealing company entailing youngsters.".Moscow's Khamovnitchesky Courthouse found him responsible of criminal activities hooked up to the sale of prohibited narcotics, the courthouse's press company claimed in an article on Telegram. He was actually penalized to thirteen years in a maximum-security jail colony.Leake was actually jailed together with Veronika Grabanchuk, another defendant sentenced of drug costs. Her relationship to Leake was certainly not right away clear.Arrests of U.S. citizens in Russia have actually boosted in the last few years, in what Washington views as a Kremlin tactic to get the launch of Russians founded guilty abroad.Among other United States people kept in Russian jails are former marines Robert Gilman and Paul Whelan, in addition to reporters Evan Gershkovich as well as Alsu Kurmasheva.