Moscow court sentences US musician to 13 years in maximum security prison in drug case

The Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow sentenced US citizen, musician Michael Travis Leake, to 13 years in a maximum security penal colony in a drug case, the joint press service of the capital's courts reported .

Lik was found guilty of attempted drug trafficking (paragraphs "a", "b", part 3 and paragraph "g" of part 4 of Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code with the application of part 3 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and illegal storage and acquisition of drugs (part 1 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code). Russian Veronika Grabanchuk was also involved in the case; she was sentenced to eight years in a general regime penal colony and pleaded guilty.

According to investigators, a US citizen organized the sale of mephedrone "with the involvement of young people." The musician's arrest became known in the summer of 2023. On June 11 of that year, Lik was placed in a pretrial detention center by decision of the Khamovnichesky Court.

After the musician's arrest, REN TV, citing a source in law enforcement, reported that security forces had searched Lik's apartment. The TV channel's source claimed that the US citizen "blackmailed girls and forced them to make caches," and that security forces found scales, ziplock bags, electrical tape, and a "substance of unknown origin" in his apartment. The man himself denied guilt in the case.

Since 2010, Lik has lived in Moscow. Before moving, he served as a paratrooper in the United States, and at the time of his arrest, he was a musician in the group "Lovi Noch". In addition, for a long time, he produced the groups Louna, Slot, and Tarakany!