Russia upholds 12.5-year prison sentence for American-Russian citizen on drug charges

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A Moscow court on Tuesday confirmed a 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence for American-Russian man Robert Woodland, who was convicted of drug offenses earlier this year.

Russia has detained several U.S. and joint U.S.-Russian citizens in recent years amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington.

At an appeal hearing in Moscow City Court on Tuesday, Judge Irina Khorlina said she had decided to leave the original sentence “unchanged,” an AFP journalist reported from the courtroom.

Woodland, 32, attended the hearing via video feed from the detention center where he is being held.

His lawyer Stanislav Kshevitsky had asked the court to reduce his sentence, saying he had pleaded guilty to part of the case during the trial.

He was arrested in January 2024 while trying to hide 47 grams of mephedrone and was convicted in July of attempting to sell drugs on a “large scale.”

Prosecutors said he collected the drugs in a forest on the outskirts of Moscow, transported them to his apartment and repackaged them for sale.

His lawyer rejected this representation.

“Woodland pleaded guilty to drug possession but denied distribution. He is a drug addict … he stole from another drug addict and wanted to hide the drugs for his personal use,” Kshevitsky told reporters after the hearing.

Woodland, 32, was born in Russia and adopted by an American family in the early 1990s.

He decided to return to Russia in 2020 to reconnect with his birth mother, Russian state news agencies reported.

His story and emotional reunion were featured on a TV show in Russia.

Kshevitsky told reporters after the hearing that Woodland would appeal the decision again.

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