A Moscow court has sentenced a US citizen, Gene Spector, to 15 years in prison for espionage, according to Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti. Spector, who was born in Russia and later became a US citizen, was previously sentenced to four years in prison for acting as an intermediary in a bribe. In 2020, he pled guilty to mediating bribes for a former aide to a Russian deputy prime minister.
Spector was also a chairman of the board of directors of Medpolymerprom Group, which specializes in cancer drugs. A US official at the American embassy in Moscow expressed concern over Spector’s arrest, stating that they believed he was already in jail and had no information on the new charge.
This sentence comes amid a trend of US citizens being sentenced to lengthy terms in Russian prisons. In October, 72-year-old Stephen Hubbard was sentenced to almost seven years in prison for allegedly fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. In July, Robert Woodland, a US citizen of Russian origin, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in a maximum-security penal colony for drug-related charges. In March, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years in prison for allegedly spying for the CIA, but was later released in a prisoner swap with Russia and the West.
