An American musician who has lived in Russia for more than a decade has been arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking, Russian news media reported Saturday.
The reports said Michael Travis Leake is suspected of selling mephedrone, whose effects are similar to those of cocaine and MDMA. A Moscow court ordered him to be held for two months in pre-trial detention, the reports said.
He faces charges of production or distribution of drugs, which carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
An Instagram page under the name Travis Leake Instagram identifies him as the singer for the band Lovi Noch (Seize the Night). News reports said Leake is a former paratrooper with the U.S. military and has lived in Moscow since 2010.
Russian drug laws are strict. WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested in February 2022 after vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage at a Moscow airport. She was sentenced to nine years in prison, but was released in December in an exchange for U.S.-imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The U.S. State Department said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that it was aware of the reports that a U.S. citizen had recently been arrested in Moscow. It said when a U.S. citizen is detained overseas, the department “pursues consular access as soon as possible and works to provide all appropriate consular assistance.”
The department said it would have no further comment due to privacy considerations.
An Idaho judge overseeing the trial of the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students has banned members of the media and public from using cameras and audio recording devices in the courtroom.
Four people were injured after a man opened fire at a Walmart store in Beaver Creek, Ohio just outside of Dayton. The suspect then turned the gun on himself.
The leader of Hamas said that a truce agreement is close and would reportedly include a multi-day ceasefire and the release of at least 50 hostages in exchange for Palestinian women and children detained in Israel.
For years, Geoffrey Holt was known as a mobile home park groundskeeper in a small New Hampshire town. Now, he's being remembered as a millionaire who gave his $3.8 million fortune to the community.
A Navy plane flying in rainy weather overshot a runway Monday at a military base in Hawaii and splashed into Kaneohe Bay, but all nine aboard were uninjured, authorities said.
Senior Hamas officials said Tuesday that an agreement could be reached soon in which the militant group would release hostages and Israel would free Palestinian prisoners.
