A US citizen, identified as Joseph Tater, has been sentenced to 15 days in a Russian prison for attacking a police officer. Following the incident, Tater will spend the next two months in pre-trial detention as ordered by the Meshchansky Court of Moscow. He was found guilty of disorderly conduct, which involved aggressive behavior, swearing, and hitting a female police officer during detention.
Tater is also facing a criminal case for using violence against a government official, which could lead to imprisonment for up to five years. Despite submitting an application through his lawyer not to be placed in detention, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow granted a request to keep him in detention until October 14.
The US embassy in Moscow confirmed the arrest of Joseph Tater but refrained from further comments due to privacy concerns. The US State Department is actively working to gather information and ascertain the consular situation for Tater.
Notably, there are other American citizens serving sentences in Russia for various convictions, such as Marc Fogel, who was convicted in 2022 for illegal possession of cannabis. Fogel, a teacher in Moscow, received a 14-year sentence at a hard labor camp after being arrested on drug charges in 2021.
In a recent prisoner exchange between Russia and the West, twenty-four detainees were freed, including notable individuals like Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva. However, Fogel was not part of this exchange.
Additionally, Russian-US dual national Ksenia Karelina pleaded guilty to treason charges in a Russian court after being arrested for donating a small amount to a charity providing aid to those affected by the war in Ukraine. Karelina, 33, was detained in Yekaterinburg in February while visiting her grandparents.
