US soldier serves almost 4 year jail sentence in Russia
By DL News
Published
1 min read
Staff Sgt. Gordon Black received his sentence from a court in Vladivostok, located in Russia's far east, and will serve his time in a penal colony.
A Russian court has sentenced a US soldier to three years and nine months in prison on charges of theft and making death threats against his girlfriend, according to state news agencies.
Staff Sgt. Gordon Black received his sentence from a court in Vladivostok, located in Russia's far east, and will serve his time in a penal colony.
Sgt. Black was arrested in May and pleaded not guilty to the charges of threatening to kill his girlfriend, though he admitted to being "partially" guilty of stealing 10,000 roubles (about £89) from her.
He plans to appeal the verdict, state news agencies reported.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of four years and eight months, while his defense team argued for acquittal.
US officials stated that Sgt. Black, 34, met his girlfriend in South Korea.
He enlisted as an infantryman in 2008 and was deployed to Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan in 2013.
Most recently, he was assigned to the Eighth Army, US Forces Korea, at Camp Humphreys.
