Russia sentences US man to 15 years in prison for 'espionage'

MOSCOW: A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced a US man to 15 years in a penal colony for “espionage”, Russian news agencies reported.

Russia has detained and sentenced a number of US citizens and dual-nationals in recent years, some of whom have been freed in prisoner exchanges.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted of espionage in July and released in August.

Moscow City Court sentenced the man, named as Gene Spector, to “15 years to be served in a strict-regime penal colony”, taking into account a sentence the defendant had already received for bribery, RIA Novosti state news agency reported.

It published a photograph of Spector in the defendant’s cage, wearing glasses and a dark jacket.

No details of the accusation against him have been released.

The trial, except for the sentencing, took place behind closed doors due to the secret nature of the case, news agencies reported.

Spector was born in 1972 in Leningrad and his Russian name is Yevgeny Mironovich, the agency reported.

Now a US citizen, he lives in the city of Saint Petersburg in northwest Russia and is married with children.

The American was detained in 2020 and the following year sentenced to four years in prison for acting as an intermediary in bribery, after pleading guilty.

His sentence was later reduced by six months after a retrial. The case concerned luxury holidays provided to an assistant to former deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

According to TASS state news agency, Spector was born and raised in Russia before moving to the United States where he obtained citizenship.

He was general director of Russia’s Medpolimerprom company group.