Moscow court sentences American student to nine years in prison for assaulting police officers

Moscow’s Golovinsky Court has sentenced American citizen Trevor Reed to nine years in prison for resisting police officers when he was arrested in the summer of 2019.

Reed was found guilty of “the use of violence dangerous to life or health against a representative of the authorities” (Section 2, Article 318 of Russia’s Criminal Code).

Reed was arrested in August 2019 because of a loud altercation with two girls following complaints from residents living in a house on Moscow’s Leningradskoe Highway. According to the prosecution, Reed resisted arrest, and once in the patrol car, assaulted the police officer who was driving, tearing his uniform and hitting his partner.

The prosecution also demanded that Reed pay 150,000 rubles ($2,034) in compensation for moral damages. According to Reed, he voluntarily transferred 50,000 rubles (approximately $680) to each of them and asked for their forgiveness.

The charges Reed faced carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. State prosecutors initially asked for him to be sentenced to nine years and eight months imprisonment.

Trevor Reed, an ex-U.S. Marine and student from the University of North Texas, was in Russia on a tourist visa. 

Reed pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, stating that he can’t remember the incident because he was drunk at the time. Reed’s defense team have pointed to a number of inconsistencies in the proceedings, while his relatives have tried to draw the attention of the White House to his case.