A US citizen who was detained in Moscow on drug-related charges in January has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in a maximum-security penal colony, according to a court statement released Thursday.
Robert Woodland was found guilty of attempted trafficking of large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group, the Ostankino District Court of Moscow said.
Mr Woodland, who was born in Russia and adopted when he was two, had travelled to the country in 2020 to find his birth mother. His journey was documented by a Russian reality TV programme.
He is the latest US citizen to be imprisoned in the country, with some Western officials suggesting the Kremlin is "hoarding" Americans to trade for allies and operatives imprisoned abroad.
Western officials and analysts have accused Russia of using jailed Americans as political pawns.
Woodland’s lawyers told reporters after the verdict was delivered that they would appeal the ruling as Woodland’s guilt had not been proven, the Associated Press (AP) reported.