Russia Sentences U.S. Citizen to 15 Years for Espionage

A Russian court sentenced a U.S. citizen Tuesday to 15 years in a high-security prison for espionage, state media outlets reported, prompting speculation that the Kremlin might seek to use him as leverage in negotiations for a future prisoner swap.

The man, Eugene Spector, was already serving a 3 1/2-year sentence for a 2021 bribery conviction when he was charged with spying. On Tuesday, the Moscow City Court convicted him of espionage and sentenced him to an additional 13 years, for a total of 15 years, at the end of a closed-door trial, according to Russian state news agencies.

Details of the charges were not made public. The case files for Spector were not available online, and The New York Times was not immediately able to identify or track down his attorney. The State Department said in a statement that it was aware of reports that an American citizen had been sentenced in Russia and it was monitoring the situation.

Spector, 52, was born in Russia but later moved to the United States. Analysts said the length and timing of his sentence could suggest that Russian authorities might view Spector as a potential asset for future prisoner exchanges with the United States.

In Russia, lesser sentences have often been given to people convicted of murder.

In August, a prisoner swap that involved seven countries saw Moscow release 16 prisoners — including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan — in exchange for a convicted assassin and seven other Russians. That came eight months after American basketball star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison in exchange for a convicted arms dealer, Viktor Bout.

Olga Romanova, the head of Russia Behind Bars, a rights group that deals with prisoner issues, said in an interview that Spector’s latest sentencing appeared to follow “exactly the same pattern” as that seen with some of the foreign prisoners just before the August prisoner swap — meaning lengthy sentences and quick, secretive trials.

In recent years, Russia has brought a number of espionage and other charges against citizens of Western countries, raising concerns that the Kremlin views the accused as valuable assets who could be traded for high-profile Russians held by countries in the West.

Russia has several Americans in its prisons. They include Ksenia Karelina, a dual American and Russian citizen who was tried on treason charges for donating to the Ukrainian army.

Another American in Russian custody is Marc Fogel, a 63-year-old teacher and former U.S. Embassy worker who was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to 14 years in a high-security penal colony.