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Russia on Wednesday once again extended the prison sentence of US citizen Robert Gilman after a regional court found him guilty of a new attack on prison staff.
According to Reuters report, the verdict adds two years to the former Marine’s existing term, taking his total sentence to 10 years.
The latest expansion came to the Voronezh region, where Gilman continues to serve.
Prosecutors accused him of attacking two prison guards, and the court ruled that the incident was a new crime requiring additional punishment.
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Robert Gilman now faces a total of 10 years in prison after a Voronezh court added two more years for allegedly attacking guards. (Reuters/Vladimir Lavrov)
The move follows a pattern of steadily increasing charges against Gilman since his initial arrest in 2022, highlighting how his prison terms have steadily grown longer over the years.
Gilman, of Dracut, Massachusetts, was first arrested in January 2022 after passengers on a train reported he was intoxicated and causing a disturbance.
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Former marine’s Russian prison sentence is getting extended after new assault conviction. (Reuters/Vladimir Lavrov)
Transport police took him off the train in Voronezh, where he was detained for minor hooliganism.
At the time, Russian media reported that Gilman, who was traveling between Sochi and Moscow to replace a damaged passport, was heavily intoxicated.
He later claimed in court that he believed his drink had been laced with drugs.
Gilman was convicted of assaulting a police officer in 2022, initially receiving a three-and-a-half-year sentence.
At the time, prosecutors recommended four and a half years out of a possible five.
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Gilman’s legal troubles escalated after his arrest for train embezzlement in 2022 while he was traveling to exchange his passport. (Reuters/Vladimir Lavrov)
Fox News Digital also reported that Gilman kicked and injured a Russian police officer while being pulled from the train.
Gilman’s troubles in custody increased in 2024 when he was found guilty of assaulting a prison inspector, assaulting an investigator, and beating another guard during a cell check.
Those convictions resulted in a sentence of eight years and one month, with Wednesday’s verdict bringing the total sentence to a decade.
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Former US Marine gets two more years in Russian prison for attack. (Vladimir Lavrov/Reuters)
According to Reuters, local media, including business newspaper Kommersant, reported that Gilman admitted to some of the attacks.
He said he began breaking prison rules when he was threatened with transfer from his current detention facility, which he described as humane and where he could receive packages from relatives, to a maximum-security penal colony.
On Wednesday, Gilman apologized in court and explained that he preferred to live in the Voronezh facility.
According to Reuters, Gilman’s lawyer Irina Brazhnikova told the state-run TASS news agency that he would not appeal the latest verdict.
Gilman is among at least nine Americans still held in Russia following several high-profile prisoner swaps in 2024 and 2025.
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Journalist Ivan Gershkovich, right, former U.S. Marine released by Russia, former U.S. Marine Paul Whalen, center, and U.S.-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, left, smile after landing at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelley Field in Texas, Aug. 2, 2024. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)
Several people like Gilman have a US military background, including Michael Travis Leak and Gordon Black.
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Gilman’s supporters in the United States argue that he was ill when first detained and that he was provoked into committing actions that would lead to additional charges.
