Russia Sentences U.S. Ex-Marine to 9 Years for Assaulting Police

(Bloomberg) -- A Moscow court sentenced a former U.S. Marine to nine years in jail for assaulting two police officers who detained him during a night of drinking, the Interfax news service reported.

Trevor Reed, 28, was found guilty of endangering the lives of the officers last August when he caused their vehicle to swerve after attending a party in Moscow. Reed, who has no memory of the events, denies the charges and says video evidence exonerates him.

The press service of Moscow’s Golovinsky regional court did not respond to attempts to reach it.

The harsh sentence against Reed, a University of North Texas student, comes after another former Marine, David Whelan, was sentenced to 16 years by a Russian court last month for espionage in a case criticized by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Interfax reported previously on talks of a possible swap of Whelan for Russians Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko held in U.S. prisons. Bout, an arms dealer jailed in 2012, and Yaroshenko, a pilot serving a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine, were seized in third countries and brought to the U.S. for trial.

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