A Moscow court sentenced a Russian-born American to 15 years in prison on charges of espionage, Russian state media reported Tuesday, citing court documents.
Gene Spector was arrested in 2020 on charges of “mediating” a bribe to the aide of former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich in the form of vacations to Thailand and the Dominican Republic. The aide, Anastasia Alexeyeva, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Spector was sentenced to four years in prison in 2021, but that sentence was later reduced by six months following a retrial.
Authorities brought new espionage charges against Spector in August 2023, although details surrounding the case were not made public. The trial was held behind closed doors given the nature of the charges.
Spector was born in Leningrad in 1972 and was raised in the Soviet Union, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, and his Russian name is Yevgeny Mironovich. He later became a U.S. citizen but returned to Russia to live in St. Petersburg with his wife and children.
He previously served as CEO of Medpolimerprom, a group of companies that makes plastic medical devices.
The United States previously said it did not believe Spector was wrongfully detained.
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