A Russian court sentenced a U.S. citizen on Tuesday to 15 years in a high-security prison for espionage, state media outlets reported, prompting speculation that the Kremlin might seek to use him as leverage in negotiations for a future prisoner swap.
The man, Eugene Spector, was already serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence for a 2021 bribery conviction when he was charged with spying. On Tuesday, the Moscow City Court convicted him of espionage and sentenced him to an additional 13 years, for a total of 15 years, at the end of a closed-door trial, according to Russian state news agencies.
Details of the charges were not made public. The case files for Mr. Spector were not available online, and The New York Times was not immediately available to identify or track down his attorney. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department.
Mr. Spector, 52, was born in Russia but later moved to the United States. Analysts said that the length and timing of his sentence could suggest that the Russian authorities might view Mr. Spector as a potential asset for future prisoner exchanges with the United States.
In Russia, lesser sentences have often been given to people convicted of murder.
In August, a sweeping prisoner swap that involved seven countries saw Moscow release 16 prisoners — including the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and the retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan — in exchange for a convicted assassin and seven other Russians. That came eight months after the American basketball star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison in exchange for a convicted arms dealer, Viktor Bout.
Olga Romanova, the head of Russia Behind Bars, a rights group that deals with prisoner issues, said in an interview that Mr. Spector’s latest sentencing appeared to follow “exactly the same pattern” as that seen with some of the foreign prisoners just before the August prisoner swap — meaning lengthy sentences and quick, secretive trials.
In recent years, Russia has brought a number of espionage and other charges against citizens of Western countries, raising concerns that the Kremlin views the accused as valuable assets who could be traded for high-profile Russians held by countries in the West.
Russia currently has several Americans in its prisons. They include a Ksenia Karelina, a dual American and Russian citizen who was tried on treason charges for donating to the Ukrainian Army.
Another American in Russian custody is Marc Fogel, a 63-year old teacher and former U.S. Embassy worker who was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to 14 years in a high-security penal colony.
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