The Russian prosecution on Wednesday (July 29th) requested nearly 10 years in prison against a former US navy accused of assaulting two Russian police officers, said a court in the Russian capital where the trial is taking place. Trevor Reed, 28, from Texas, is accused of assaulting two police officers called to the scene of a party in August 2019 while he was intoxicated.
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One of the officials claimed that Trevor Reed attempted to grab his gun as he was driven to a police station. The other claimed to have been struck by the American in the abdomen. In pre-trial detention since last August, Mr Reed has pleaded not guilty, although he admits he has no recollection of the incident.
The prosecution requested 9 years and 8 months in prison against him on Wednesday, a punishment very close to the maximum penalty of 10 years provided for by law, a spokeswoman for the Golovinsky court in Moscow told AFP. The verdict is due to be announced Thursday. The Trevor Reed case comes amid rumors in Russia of a possible prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.
In June, another ex-US marine, Paul Whelan, who also holds British, Irish and Canadian nationality, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage, a sentence that he and his relatives denounced as " political ". . His lawyer raised after the verdict the possibility that his client could be exchanged for two Russians detained in the United States, the famous ex-arms salesman Viktor Bout and the pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, detained for drug trafficking.