14-year jail term by Russia for ex-Marine Trevor Reed in absentia

MOSCOW, Russia: Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, freed by Russia in a 2022 prisoner swap, was sentenced to 14 years in prison in absentia for serving as a mercenary for Ukraine.

Russia's Investigative Committee said Reed, a Texan, had joined Ukraine's army in July 2023 and "directly participated on the side of the Ukrainian security forces in combat operations" against Russian troops in Ukraine.

It had placed Reed on the international wanted list.

Reed could not immediately be reached for comment as he had been transferred to Germany for medical care due to injuries sustained while fighting in Ukraine.

Reed, born in 1991 in Fort Worth, Texas, was convicted in Russia in 2019 of endangering the lives of two police officers while drunk on a visit to Moscow. The United States called his trial a "theater of the absurd."

He was freed in a prisoner swap in April 2022 in exchange for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who had been convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.