A Russian court on Monday ordered the sentence of an American citizen convicted of drug trafficking to be reduced from 12 and a half to 9 and a half years, Reuters reported, citing the man's lawyer, BTA reported.
Robert Woodland was found guilty in July 2024 on charges of attempted drug trafficking after he was arrested with about 50 grams of mephedrone (a drug of the same type as amphetamine), which he was transporting to a cache in Moscow.
His lawyer, Stanislav Krzevitski, said Woodland had pleaded partially guilty. It is not yet clear why his sentence was reduced, Reuters notes.
Woodland was born in Russia in 1991 and was adopted as a child by American parents. In an interview with a Russian newspaper in 2020, he said he had returned to his home country to meet his biological mother.
Woodland is one of at least 10 Americans still in Russian prisons after a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington earlier this month. The swap freed Ksenia Karelina, who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, and Artur Petrov, who holds German and Russian citizenship.
Earlier this month, another Russian court slightly reduced the sentence of U.S. soldier Gordon Black, who was convicted last year of stealing $113 from his girlfriend and threatening to kill her.