An American man has been detained in Russia on drug charges that could send him to prison for 20 years, a Moscow court said Tuesday.
Robert Romanov Woodland was taken into custody on Jan. 5 on illegal acquisition or possession of drug charges, the Ostankino District Court said.
He will remain in custody until at least March 5.
The 32-year-old allegedly attempted to have a large-scale production and sale of drugs, according to Russian outlet Mash.
He is accused of “illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, production, processing of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or their analogues,” according to NBC News.
If convicted, Woodland could be jailed for eight to 20 years and face an unlimited fine.
He has no criminal record, but court documents obtained by NBC News say investigators believe “criminal activity is his main source of income” as prosecutors argued that a pre-trial detention is justified by the possibility he would go into hiding.
Robert Romanov Woodland had been remanded in custody until March 5 for his charges, according to Moscow’s Ostankino District Court. Facebook / Robert WoodlandWoodland’s defense attorney tried to push for house arrest, the court document notes, but a judge rejected the request because there was nothing in his medical history that suggests he can’t be put in a pre-trial detention center.
The Russian-born teacher had moved back to the country to teach English.
He told a Russian newspaper in 2020 that he had been adopted in 1993 by US citizens from an orphanage in Perm, in the Urals.
Woodland was charged with attempted large-scale production and sale of illegal drugs. Facebook / Robert WoodlandWoodland told the outlet that he had searched for his biological mother and found her, having reunited on Russian state television.
“Mama was crying and begging for forgiveness, but I forgave her before this meeting. I’ve never been angry at her. I simply always missed her very much,” he said on the show. “I was drawn to Russia with a tremendous force. And here I am. I have decided to stay in my motherland forever.”Woodland appears to have both American and Russian passports.
Woodland faces years in prison for his drug charges, which can carry up to 20 years in prison in Russia. Instagram / @roman_askhatovich
A Facebook account in the name of Robert Woodland indicated that he was an English teacher in Russia.
Facebook / Robert WoodlandMarine Corps veteran Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The US State Department said they were wrongfully taken into custody and have warned Americans to leave Russia immediately over fears of more detentions.
