MOSCOW (AP) 鈥 A court in Russia鈥檚 far eastern city of Vladivostok on Wednesday convicted a visiting American soldier of stealing and making threats of murder, and it sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison.
Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, flew to the Pacific port city to see his girlfriend and was arrested last month after she accused him of stealing from her, according to U.S. officials and Russian authorities.
Russia's state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti reported that the judge in Pervomaisky District Court in Vladivostok also ordered Black to pay 10,000 rubles ($115) in damages. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of four years and eight months in prison.
Black鈥檚 case occurs amid tensions over Russia's arrests of American journalists and other U.S. nationals as the fighting in Ukraine continues.
Russia , including corporate security executive and Wall Street Journal reporter . The U.S. government has designated both men as wrongfully detained and has been trying to negotiate their release.
Others detained include , a musician who has been living in Russia for years and was arrested last year on drug-related charges; Marc Fogel, a teacher in Moscow who was sentenced to 14 years in prison, also on drug charges; and dual nationals and .
The U.S. State Department strongly advises American citizens not to go to Russia.
Black was on leave and in the process of returning to his home base at Fort Cavazos, Texas, from South Korea, where he had been stationed at Camp Humphreys with the Eighth Army.
Cynthia Smith, an Army spokesperson, said Black signed out for his move back home and, 鈥渋nstead of returning to the continental United States, Black flew from Incheon, Republic of Korea, through China to Vladivostok, Russia, for personal reasons.鈥
Under Pentagon policy, service members must get clearance for any international travel from a security manager or commander.
that Black hadn鈥檛 sought such travel clearance and it wasn鈥檛 authorized by the Defense Department. Given the hostilities in Ukraine and threats to the U.S. and its military, it is extremely unlikely he would have been granted approval.
Black鈥檚 girlfriend, Alexandra Vashchuk, told reporters earlier this month that 鈥渋t was a simple domestic dispute,鈥 during which Black 鈥渂ecame aggressive and attacked鈥 her.
鈥淗e then stole money from my wallet and I didn鈥檛 give him permission to do it,鈥 Vashchuk said.
On Wednesday, she told Russian news outlet Gazeta.ru that she considers the sentence 鈥渜uite humane鈥 and described Black as 鈥渧iolent and unable to control himself.鈥
U.S. officials have said that Black, who is married, met Vashchuk in South Korea.
According to U.S. officials, she had lived in South Korea, and last fall she and Black got into some type of domestic dispute or altercation. After that, she left South Korea. It isn鈥檛 clear if she was forced to leave or what, if any, role South Korean authorities had in the matter.
