A U. S. soldier arrested in Russia for robbery will be detained for at least two months and could face a five-year sentence if convicted, a Russian district court said on Tuesday, amid allegations that he stole from a friend after tracking her from South Korea. . , when they were involved in an internal dispute.
The Pervomaisky district court in Vladivostok said the U. S. soldier, Sergeant Gordon Black, was arrested last week for misconduct and will remain in custody until July 2, a court spokesman told the official RIA Novosti news agency.
The 34-year-old married black man is charged with “secret theft of property,” causing the alleged victim “significant harm,” the court said.
Black, who faces up to five years in criminal time, traveled to Russia to visit an old Russian friend who had left South Korea after the two men became involved in an alleged “internal argument or altercation,” U. S. officials told The Associated Press.
Black did not tell his unit in South Korea that he was going to Russia and had not obtained permission to pass there. Instead, he asked for permission to redeploy to his home in Fort Cavazos, Texas, according to officials.
The alleged victim filed a complaint with police accusing Black of stealing cash after an argument, and Black was later arrested at a local hotel after buying a plane ticket home, Reuters reported.
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Vladivostok said Black’s arrest had “no connection to politics or espionage,” adding that a “domestic crime” was suspected in this case, according to the official Russian news agency Tass.
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A State Department official told ABC News that the U. S. embassy in Moscow was seeking to contact Black, though they were not allowed to meet with him. The official said Black’s detention was most likely extended.
Another U. S. citizen arrested and detained in Russia on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported. Russell William Nycum was sentenced to 10 days in prison for “petty hooliganism” after allegedly climbing through the windows of a children’s library while intoxicated.
Black is the latest American to be arrested in Russia in recent years. Last year, Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges and faces up to 20 years in criminal sentencing. Former U. S. Marine Paul Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage through a Moscow court in 2020. Whelan said his trial was a “sham” and maintained his innocence, suggesting he was framed after receiving a USB drive containing sensitive data he didn’t know existed. The U. S. government defended Whelan and Gershkovich and said neither had been wrongfully detained. Brittney Griner spent 10 months in a Russian prison for drug possession and trafficking; the WNBA star was sent back to the U. S. The U. S. military has been arrested as part of a criminal exchange involving a Russian arms dealer.
U. S. Soldier Arrested in Russia for Robbery (Forbes)
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