US citizen sentenced to 13 years in Russia for drugs distribution

A US citizen, a member of Russian rock band Lovi Noch (Seize the Night) was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum security colony. He was found guilty of attempting to distribute drugs.

US citizen Michael Travis Leake was sentenced to 13 years in a maximum security penal colony in the case of large-scale drug sales.

The man was found guilty under the article on illegal production, sale or transfer of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues.

The second defendant in the case, Veronika Grabanchuk, was also found guilty. The press service of the Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow did not specify the punishment that the woman received.

REN TV channel published a video in early June in which a group of armed security forces burst into the apartment where Michael Travis Leake was being detained.

In the video recording of the interrogation, he said that he did not know why he was detained.

"I am not guilty, I can't believe what I was accused of. I don't understand why,” he said.

The American was arrested on June 10. The court said that he was a former paratrooper and musician who allegedly organized "a drug trafficking business with the participation of young people.”

Leake is a musician at Russian band Lovi Noch (Seize the Night). He also produces several musical groups: Louna, "Slot” and "Cockroaches!” (frontman of "Cockroaches” Dmitry Spirin was recognized as a foreign agent).

Ten years ago, Leake appeared on CNN's Parts Unknown that was filmed in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The American then expressed his outrage about censorship in Russia and spoke about an incident involving his group and MTV.

"It was a documentary series about musicians who stood up and, in some cases, risking their lives, spoke out against abuse of power, government corruption. And yet, a foreign government has been able to control what American viewers see on their television screens. For me, this is a scandal of epic proportions,” he admitted.