A Russian court sentenced U.S. citizen Michael Travis Leake to 13 years in prison on drug smuggling charges, the Moscow court service announced Thursday. Leake, a musician and former U.S. paratrooper, was arrested in June 2023 and found guilty of selling drugs on a large scale. Details about his plea remain unclear.
Leake’s sentencing adds to the list of about a dozen Americans currently detained in Russia. The U.S. government has urged its citizens to leave Russia immediately due to the risk of arrest and harassment amid heightened tensions between the two nations.
A U.S. embassy spokesperson in Moscow did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Leake’s conviction. Earlier this month, another American, Robert Romanov Woodland, received a 12.5-year sentence for drug smuggling.
In brief court videos, Leake and a female co-defendant were seen standing in a court cage, with Leake displaying a grim expression and occasionally shaking his head. In his early 50s, Leake was a former songwriter for the rock band “Lovi Noch” (“Catch the Night”) and had previously worked as an English teacher in Moscow, translating songs for Russian bands.