MOSCOW – A Russian court ruled Thursday against a 29-year-old former US Marine who was arrested last year for assaulting a police officer after a night of heavy drinking in Moscow, sentencing him to nine years in prison. Russian.
Trevor Reed’s nine-year sentence approaches the maximum punishment for these charges, which is 10 years. He has been in Russian custody for almost a year awaiting trial. Prosecutors on Wednesday asked for 9 years and 8 months.
The defendant, his family and his Russian girlfriend deny the charges, saying they have become the latest example of unjustly accused US citizens in Russia. During Wednesday’s closing arguments, Reed said he would not admit guilt for a crime he did not commit.
“I think it would be immoral and immoral to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit,” he said in his closing statement on the eve of the trial verdict. “If I’m going to be sentenced to prison, I’d rather stay in jail before I go free tomorrow liar and coward.”
Other cases, such as that of another former U.S. Marine, Paul Whelan, have attracted much more political and media attention, likely due to the nature of the charges against Whelan (espionage) and the open discussion of using him as currency. change. with the United States
But Reed’s father Joey has spent the past year in Moscow advocating for his son in an effort to keep his case off the radar.. Russian courts have an extremely high conviction rate, and acquittals are increasingly rare.
“I am nervous and anxious,” Reed’s mother Paula told NBC News in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “Of course, I’ve tried to prepare for the worst, but if you really think about it too much … I’m probably not ready. You just feel hopeless and they are going to do what they are going to do. “
Reed, a native of Texas, spent the summer of 2019 in Moscow studying Russian and visiting his girlfriend, a lawyer in Moscow, and was preparing to return home last August, his family says. But just a few days before his return, he celebrated an evening with his girlfriend’s friends and co-workers.
Alina Tsybulnik, Reed’s girlfriend, said in an interview that she became ill while a colleague brought them home. The driver stopped the car, Reed and Tsybulnik got out, and then the driver called the police when it was clear that Reed was in bad shape.
“It was not my idea to call the police,” said Tsybulnik. “It was my colleague who did it. I had never met Trevor before and I didn’t want to deal with it. She was in trouble, her lips were blue and she needed medical help and she didn’t answer me, she didn’t know where she was. “
When the police arrived, they put Reed in the back of his car and then took him to a police station, Tsybulnik said. According to police, Reed became belligerent during the trip and tugged on the driver’s arm, causing the car to turn.
He has been accused of endangering the lives of police officers, while also flirting with one in the passenger seat. Tsybulnik says police presented a jacket with a broken arm to the court in an effort to demonstrate that it pulled the driver.
She says that is simply not possible.
“We followed the car and it was driving pretty slow, it didn’t veer,” he said. “[Reed] he was asleep in the back of the car. So they didn’t handcuff him. “
Meanwhile, Reed has said in previous interviews that he doesn’t recall the events, a claim his family reaffirmed to NBC News.
Joey Reed, a Texas firefighter, has become deeply acquainted with the evidence against his son while renting an apartment in Moscow, even challenging the COVID-19 lockdown that stopped life in the Russian capital in April and May, he said.
“I told her I needed to be the father of the year,” said Paula Reed of her husband’s efforts.
