A Moscow court lowered the drug trafficking prison sentence for Russian-born U.S.
citizen Robert Woodland by 3 years, Reutersreported Tuesday, mentioning his lawyer.Woodland, a dual U.S.-Russian resident who worked as an English teacher in Moscow, was detained in January 2024 and implicated of illegally getting, keeping, carrying, making and processing 47 grams (1.6 ounces) of mephedrone.A Moscow court sentenced Woodland to 12 years and 6 months in jail last July.
A judgerejected an appeal of that sentence in November.On Tuesday, a judge ruled to lower Woodlands sentence to nine years and six months for an unidentified reason, his legal representative Stanislav Kshevitsky informed Reuters.Woodland is among at least 10 Americans imprisoned in Russia following a series of U.S.-Russian prisoner swaps dating back to last summer, according to the news agency.The 33-year-old double nationwide was born in the Russian city of Perm.
He was adopted by an American family at the age of two, state media reported in 2020.
Forest stated he transferred to Russia to discover his birth mother, with whom he was ultimately reunited on Russian state television.Kshevitsky had actually said that Woodland pleaded guilty to drug possession but denied the circulation charges.He is an addict who stole from another drug user, the attorney informed press reporters after an appeal hearing last November.