.A previous USA paratrooper as well as rock artist detained in Russia greater than a year ago on medicine fees was penalized to thirteen years in prison on Thursday, the Moscow court of law device's press service claimed.Michael Travis Leake, who fronted the Moscow-based stone band Lovi Noch, was actually restrained in June 2023 after district attorneys accused him of "coordinating a medication working organization entailing youngsters.".Moscow's Khamovnitchesky Courthouse found him responsible of criminal offenses linked to the sale of illegal drugs, the courthouse's press company stated in a message on Telegram. He was actually penalized to thirteen years in a maximum-security prison nest.Leake was incarcerated along with Veronika Grabanchuk, another offender founded guilty of medicine costs. Her relation to Leake was not promptly clear.Arrests of united state residents in Russia have raised recently, in what Washington sees as a Kremlin ploy to secure the release of Russians sentenced abroad.Among other American residents kept in Russian jails are actually past marines Robert Gilman and also Paul Whelan, along with journalists Evan Gershkovich and also Alsu Kurmasheva.