According to Russian state media agencies, a U.S. citizen was reportedly sentenced to 15 years in prison for espionage by a Russian court on Tuesday.
Eugene Spector, who was born in Russia but subsequently relocated to the United States and obtained U.S. citizenship, was already serving a 3.5-year sentence for bribery.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to an additional 13 years in a maximum security penal colony, bringing his total time behind bars to 15 years.
Spector was also fined 14 million rubles, which is equivalent to approximately $140,000. Behind closed doors, the hearings were conducted.
Spector returned to Russia as an adult and assumed the role of chairman of the board at Medpolymerprom Group, a medical equipment company, prior to his 2021 conviction.
In 2020, the executive was apprehended on suspicion of aiding in the bribery of an assistant to a former Russian deputy prime minister, Arkady Dvorkovich. Spector entered a plea of guilty.
Anastasia Alekseyeva, the subordinate, was ultimately sentenced to 12 years in prison, according to Russian state media.
In August 2023, Spector was charged with additional espionage offenses; however, the specifics of the case were not disclosed.
Spector is one of numerous Americans who are currently incarcerated in Russian institutions.
This August, a historic prisoner exchange was facilitated by Russia, the United States, and other Western allies. A total of twenty-four detainees were exchanged.
The exchange, which occurred in Turkey, resulted in the release of three prominent Americans—Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, Paul Whelan, a former Marine, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty—as well as 13 other Westerners and Russian dissidents.
In exchange, Russia was able to secure the release of eight prisoners who were being detained in a variety of countries.
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