.A past USA paratrooper as well as rock musician apprehended in Russia much more than a year earlier on drug fees was actually punished to 13 years in prison on Thursday, the Moscow court device's media company claimed.Michael Travis Leake, who overlooked the Moscow-based stone band Lovi Noch, was confined in June 2023 after prosecutors accused him of "coordinating a medication dealing service entailing youngsters.".Moscow's Khamovnitchesky Courtroom found him guilty of unlawful acts linked to the purchase of prohibited narcotics, the courthouse's media service claimed in a message on Telegram. He was sentenced to thirteen years in a maximum-security prison colony.Leake was actually put behind bars along with Veronika Grabanchuk, one more defendant sentenced of drug charges. Her association to Leake was actually not instantly very clear.Arrests of U.S. people in Russia have actually boosted in recent times, in what Washington views as a Kremlin ploy to secure the launch of Russians pronounced guilty abroad.And many more American consumers kept in Russian prisons are previous marines Robert Gilman and also Paul Whelan, along with writers Evan Gershkovich and also Alsu Kurmasheva.