.A past U.S. paratrooper as well as rock musician restrained in Russia much more than a year ago on medicine charges was actually penalized to 13 years behind bars on Thursday, the Moscow court unit's media service claimed.Michael Travis Leake, that faced the Moscow-based rock band Lovi Noch, was actually confined in June 2023 after prosecutors indicted him of "coordinating a medicine dealing organization entailing youngsters.".Moscow's Khamovnitchesky Court located him guilty of unlawful acts linked to the sale of illegal narcotics, the courthouse's press company claimed in a message on Telegram. He was actually punished to 13 years in a maximum-security penitentiary colony.Leake was imprisoned together with Veronika Grabanchuk, yet another accused convicted of drug charges. Her association to Leake was certainly not right away crystal clear.Arrests of USA citizens in Russia have actually boosted recently, in what Washington views as a Kremlin tactic to get the launch of Russians pronounced guilty abroad.And many more United States citizens kept in Russian jails are former marines Robert Gilman and Paul Whelan, in addition to writers Evan Gershkovich and also Alsu Kurmasheva.