Charles Zimmerman, who is a US Navy veteran, has been sentenced to 5 years in a Russian jail for smuggling weapons.
The 58-year old father of two who hails from Virginia was on a sailing trip from the US to New Zealand via Europe in 2024 when he was ordered to stop by a Russian warship.
Though he had not planned to stop in Russia, he did so to meet a Russian woman he met online.
The man had spent all his savings on the yacht called Trude Zena and was sailing in international waters when the Russian Navy ordered him to head to port, after which a frigate escorted him to Sochi.
The US Navy veteran admitted to having a rifle and ammunition on his yacht, and informed Russian officials that he did not know it was illegal.
He met a woman online who lives in Kazan and decided to join her in Russia on his yacht, per the Russia Krasnodar Krai court
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