American Soldier Black Wins Partial Victory as Russian Court Unexpectedly Reduces Sentence

Russian media reported that a Russian court in Vladivostok, Russia, slightly reduced the sentence of U.S. Soldier Gordon Black. He was imprisoned for stealing $113 from his girlfriend and threatening to kill her.

Russian state news agencies RIA and TASS reported that the court reduced Staff Sergeant Black’s sentence to three years and two months, according to court proceedings. The 34-year-old American soldier had originally been sentenced to three years and nine months in June.

U.S. Army officials confirmed that the service stopped paying Black’s wages after he travelled from his South Korea post to Vladivostok, Russia, without permission in order to meet with his girlfriend.