.A former USA paratrooper and rock artist confined in Russia greater than a year earlier on drug charges was penalized to thirteen years in prison on Thursday, the Moscow court of law unit's press solution mentioned.Michael Travis Leake, that fronted the Moscow-based stone band Lovi Noch, was apprehended in June 2023 after district attorneys accused him of "arranging a medication working service involving youngsters.".Moscow's Khamovnitchesky Court found him responsible of criminal offenses linked to the sale of unlawful narcotics, the court's press service pointed out in a blog post on Telegram. He was penalized to 13 years in a maximum-security prison colony.Leake was jailed alongside Veronika Grabanchuk, yet another accused sentenced of medication costs. Her relation to Leake was not right away crystal clear.Arrests of U.S. people in Russia have boosted recently, in what Washington sees as a Kremlin ploy to secure the launch of Russians pronounced guilty abroad.Among other American consumers held in Russian jails are former marines Robert Gilman and Paul Whelan, as well as journalists Evan Gershkovich as well as Alsu Kurmasheva.