RUSSIA - Apr. 27 - US Student Convicted.

An open trial in Voronezh, about 480 km south of Moscow, sentences a US student John Tobin, 24, a Fulbright scholar from Ridgefield, Connecticut, studying political science at Voronezh State University, to three years and one month in prison on charges of possession and distribution of marijuana. (Tobin was arrested on Jan. 26 but the Federal Security Service heavily publicised his arrest only after FBI agent Hanssen was accused of espionage, asserting that Tobin was a spy in training. Tobin attended a language school at the army's intelligence center at Fort Huachuca in Arizona and is a member of an Army Reserves military intelligence battalion). Tobin was never charged with espionage, but the Federal Security Service spokesman Pavel Bolshunov tells reporters Tobin visited a power plant, adding: "There is information that he participated in interrogation of our compatriots who were arriving in the United States through various channels. We are trying to establish who these people are since they are sure to get into the visibility field of the American special services". The testimony in court focused on the drug charges against Tobin. The authorities asserted that Tobin ran a drug den and asked for a 15-year prison term. But the case took a surprise turn when the investigator who filled out the police report stating how much marijuana was found testified that she "just pulled this weight out of the air". The lead prosecutor said she was "ashamed to sit here and support the charges". Prosecutors dropped the drug-den charge and reduced their sentence request to four years, but still pushed for conviction. The judge agreed, although she shaved the sentence to three years and one month. Tobin denied the charges, saying before the ruling: "I don't have anything to do with drugs. I ask you to decide my case fairly. I never offered or sold anyone drugs". His attorney promised to appeal.