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Russia sentences 72-year-old Michigan man to nearly 7 years in prison

U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard is seen inside a glass cage during the verdict announcement, in the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, on Monday. Photo by Moscow City Court Press Service/EPA-EFE
U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard is seen inside a glass cage during the verdict announcement, in the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, on Monday. Photo by Moscow City Court Press Service/EPA-EFE

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Russian officials on Monday said it has sentenced Michigan resident Stephen James Hubbard, 72, to nearly seven years in prison for fighting as a Ukrainian mercenary.

Russian forces took Hubbard into custody in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, a month into Russia's invasion of Ukraine in April 2022. The Russian court said during his trial in Moscow that he will serve six years and 10 months in a penal colony after pleading guilty to the mercenary charge last week.

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The Russian prosecutor general accused him of fightingfor Russia after signing a contract to receive $1,000 per month.

Although Hubbard has been in Russian custody for more than two years, his case did not start to get national attention until his trial started in September. There are at least 10 U.S. nationals in Russian custody after the mass prisoner exchange in August that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Trisha Hubbard Fox, Hubbard's sister, had pushed back on the charges last month on social media.

"Russia's prosecutor is lying," she said on Facebook, according to CNN. "Steve was never a mercenary. He was an English teacher teaching English in foreign countries."

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Fox said on Facebook on Friday she was concerned about her brother serving time in a Russian prison because of it conditions after speaking to the U.S. Embassy in Russia.

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