.A former U.S. paratrooper as well as rock artist detained in Russia much more than a year ago on medication charges was penalized to thirteen years in prison on Thursday, the Moscow court of law body's media solution stated.Michael Travis Leake, that fronted the Moscow-based rock band Lovi Noch, was actually confined in June 2023 after prosecutors charged him of "managing a drug handling business involving youngsters.".Moscow's Khamovnitchesky Courtroom discovered him bad of crimes attached to the purchase of unlawful narcotics, the courthouse's press solution mentioned in a post on Telegram. He was actually punished to thirteen years in a maximum-security jail swarm.Leake was jailed alongside Veronika Grabanchuk, one more accused pronounced guilty of drug charges. Her relationship to Leake was actually certainly not instantly clear.Arrests of U.S. people in Russia have increased recently, in what Washington considers a Kremlin scheme to protect the launch of Russians founded guilty abroad.Among other United States people held in Russian prisons are actually former marines Robert Gilman and also Paul Whelan, along with journalists Evan Gershkovich as well as Alsu Kurmasheva.