American Sentenced to 16 Years in Russia on Spying Charges

Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine veteran who was arrested for alleged spying in Moscow on Dec. 28, 2018, stands in a cage as he waits for a hearing in a courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 23, 2019. Alexander Zemlianichenko/File/AP Photo

MOSCOW—A Russian court on June 15 sentenced an American businessman to 16 years in prison on spying charges, a sentence that he and his brother rejected as being political.

The Moscow City Court read out the conviction of Paul Whelan on charges of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum security prison colony. The trial was held behind closed doors.