US citizen Robert Woodland convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court

By The Associated Press on July 4, 2024.

MOSCOW (AP) – Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, was convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on Thursday.

He was found guilty of attempted trafficking of large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group.

Russian media reported that his name matches a U.S. citizen interviewed in 2020 who said he was born in the Perm region in 1991 and adopted by an American couple at age 2.

He said he traveled to Russia to find his mother and eventually met her on a TV show before deciding to move to Russia. There are multiple U.S. citizens in custody in Russia, including Woodland. Moscow has been accused of using them as bargaining chips for prisoner swaps.

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