A Russian court on Thursday (July 4) sentenced American citizen Robert Romanov Woodland to 12 and a half years in prison for attempted drug trafficking. Woodland’s lawyer and Moscow prosecutor confirmed that he would be held in a high-security prison.
It was reported that the 32-year-old man was arrested in Moscow in January on charges of attempting to sell a large amount of methadone.
According to Reuters, Woodland’s lawyer, Stanislav Kshevitsky, told the media that Woodland admitted to some of the charges but was unclear about the specific accusations.
Methadone is a long-acting opioid medication used to alleviate withdrawal symptoms for heroin or other narcotics addicts.
Woodland was born in Russia and was adopted at the age of 2. In 2020, he returned to Russia to search for his birth mother, a journey that was documented by a Russian reality TV show, as reported by the BBC.
According to Reuters, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office stated in a release that Woodland, as a member of a large criminal group, transported around 50 grams of methcathinone (a type of amphetamine-like stimulant) from a pick-up point in the Moscow suburbs to an apartment in Moscow, where he packaged the drugs for further sale.
The prosecutor said Woodland was arrested while trying to conceal the drugs in a hidden location.
Woodland is the latest American citizen to be detained in Russia. Some Western officials believe the Kremlin is “stockpiling” Americans as bargaining chips for Russian intelligence agents and key figures held abroad.
An example of this situation is American basketball star Brittney Griner, who was released in a prisoner exchange between the US and Russia at the end of 2022, in exchange for the controversial Russian arms dealer Victor Bout.
Washington has repeatedly warned all Americans to leave Russia immediately, stating that they may face illegal detention and harassment by Russian security forces.
Currently, there are at least a dozen American citizens, including journalists and active-duty military personnel, detained in Russian prisons and labor camps.
Among them are corporate security executive and former US Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, both arrested by Russian authorities on espionage charges and held in Russia.