Russia sentences U.S. citizen to prison for espionage

Gene Spector, who was born in Russia but became a U.S. citizen, received a 13-year sentence. Combined with an earlier sentence, he will spend a total of 15 more years behind bars, Kremlin-run media outlet TASS reported on Tuesday. At a closed hearing, the Russian court also upheld a 14 million-ruble fine—roughly $140,000—that Spector had received previously, TASS reported.

Who is Spector? He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Medpolymerprom Group, a company specializing in cancer treatment drugs, TASS said. He’d invented and patented a treatment agent for cancer, TASS said. In 2021, he received a four-year sentence for mediating bribes for a former aide to Arkady Dvorkovich, then the Russian deputy prime minister.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about an American sentenced to prison in Russia for fighting on behalf of Ukraine in its war against Russia.