Report: American Paul Whelan receives 16-year Russian jail sentence
Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan was sentenced to 16 years on espionage charges by a Russian court on Monday, despite American condemnation of his arrest and prosecution.
The Moscow City Court on Monday read out the conviction against Whelan, which sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum-security prison colony.
Both Whelan and his family have said that he is innocent, and was only in Russia at the time of his arrest to attend the wedding of a friend from his time in the Marines. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also demanded the American be freed.