A Vladivostok court sentenced US Army Staff Sergeant Gordon Black to 3 years and 9 months in prison for theft and "threatening to kill" local resident Alexandra Vashchuk.
The detention of the 34-year-old serviceman from the U.S. became known on May 7. He was charged with the article on "committing theft with significant damage," later the article on death threats appeared in the case. The victim in the case was the girlfriend of the soldier, Russian Alexandra Vashchuk. Black came to Vladivostok after a business trip to South Korea, where he met Vashchuk and began a romantic relationship. He did not warn his command about his spontaneous trip to Russia in advance.
During the quarrel, he grabbed her by the neck and took 10,000 rubles ($100) from her purse, which he spent to pay for the hotel. Black claimed that Vashchuk was aggressive because of alcohol, threw a plate at him and hit him in the face. Black spent the money "for his own use," according to the investigation, including paying for the hotel room where he was detained. Black stated, he returned the money the next morning. The man noted that he had sent 300,000 rubles ($3650) and $525 to Vashchuk before he arrived in Vladivostok.
The prosecution demanded that Black be sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. Black's lawyer said she would appeal against her client's sentence.
Recall, the Kremlin authorities are holding several Americans, including The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Hershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan. Hershkovich was arrested on espionage charges and Whelan was found guilty under the same article and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The U.S. State Department declared them illegally detained. The media periodically report on negotiations to exchange Gershkovich and Whelan for Russian prisoners in the United States, but their details are not publicized.
