.A former U.S. paratrooper as well as rock artist apprehended in Russia much more than a year back on medicine costs was actually punished to 13 years behind bars on Thursday, the Moscow court system's media company claimed.Michael Travis Leake, who fronted the Moscow-based rock band Lovi Noch, was actually confined in June 2023 after prosecutors charged him of "coordinating a medication working service including youngsters.".Moscow's Khamovnitchesky Court discovered him responsible of unlawful acts hooked up to the purchase of prohibited drugs, the court's press service stated in a message on Telegram. He was punished to 13 years in a maximum-security penitentiary colony.Leake was actually put behind bars along with Veronika Grabanchuk, one more defendant pronounced guilty of medication charges. Her association to Leake was certainly not immediately very clear.Arrests of USA citizens in Russia have actually improved in the last few years, in what Washington views as a Kremlin ploy to secure the release of Russians pronounced guilty abroad.Among other United States residents composed Russian prisons are former marines Robert Gilman and also Paul Whelan, and also journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva.