Moscow Court Grants Sentence Reduction for U.S. Citizen Convicted of Drug Offenses

A Moscow court has reduced the prison sentence of Robert Woodland, a U.S. citizen originally from Russia, by three years, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday, referencing his attorney.

Woodland, who holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Russia and previously worked as an English teacher in Moscow, was detained in January 2024. He faced accusations of “illegally acquiring, storing, transporting, manufacturing, and processing» 47 grams (1.6 ounces) of mephedrone.

Last July, a Moscow court sentenced Woodland to twelve and a half years in prison. An appeal against this ruling was rejected by a judge in November.

On Tuesday, a judge unexpectedly reduced Woodland’s sentence to nine years and six months, according to his lawyer, Stanislav Kshevitsky, who spoke to Reuters.

Woodland is one of at least ten Americans currently imprisoned in Russia, a situation that has arisen following a series of U.S.-Russian prisoner exchanges that began last summer, according to the news agency.

The 33-year-old, who was born in Perm, Russia, was adopted by an American family when he was two years old, as reported by state media in 2020.

Woodland stated that he relocated to Russia in search of his biological mother, and the reunion was featured on Russian state television.

Kshevitsky mentioned that Woodland admitted to possessing drugs but disputed the distribution allegations.

«He is addicted to drugs… and took from another person who is also addicted,» the lawyer commented to the press following an appeal hearing last November.