AMERICAN STUDENT CONVICTED IN RUSSIA

37-Month Term On Drug Charges May Strain Ties

MOSCOW, April 27 -- A Russian court sentenced an American student today to
37 months in prison on drug charges in a case that became entangled in the
high-profile diplomatic clash between Washington and Moscow following the
Robert P. Hanssen spy scandal.

John Edward Tobin, 24, a Fulbright scholar studying political science,
stood in a courtroom cage, as is customary for defendants in Russian
criminal trials, while a judge convicted him of possession and distribution
of marijuana. The judge handed down the verdict even though police
acknowledged making up evidence and the prosecutor said she was ashamed to
be handling the case.

The ruling presents a new challenge to U.S. officials who have labored to
ease tensions in the month since President Bush authorized the expulsion of
50 Russian diplomats in retaliation for FBI agent Hanssen's alleged
espionage and Moscow countered by ordering 50 U.S. diplomats to leave the
country.

The U.S. Embassy, which sent a representative to the open trial in
Voronezh, about 300 miles south of Moscow, made no comment today. But if it
cannot persuade officials here to send Tobin back to the United States
rather than a Russian prison, the impasse could hinder attempts to rebuild
relations when both sides are discussing a possible get-acquainted summit
between Bush and President Vladimir Putin.

Though Tobin's arrest in January came weeks before Hanssen's, Russian
security services made a point of heavily publicizing it and asserting that
Tobin was a spy in training only after the FBI agent was accused of
espionage. Tobin studied at a U.S. military school and at the Defense
Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. He is a member of an Army Reserves
military intelligence battalion.

Tobin was never charged with espionage, but the Federal Security Service
(FSB) today again suggested his activities were suspect, saying he visited
a power plant and recorded his talks with politicians.

"There is information that he participated in interrogation of our
compatriots who were arriving in the United States through various
channels," FSB spokesman Pavel Bolshunov told reporters in Voronezh. "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 the courtroom, however, focused on the drug charges
against Tobin. From Ridgefield, Conn., Tobin was studying at Voronezh State
University and working on a thesis about the changes in Russia over the
past decade when he ran afoul of local police outside a nightclub.

Police said they found a small amount of marijuana in a matchbox and later
rounded up friends who told of parties at Tobin's apartment at which drugs
were allegedly available. Authorities went after Tobin with zeal, asserting
that he ran a drug den and initially asking 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, angry at the
police, 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, blaming a roommate who left the country before
the arrest. "I don't have anything to do with drugs," he said today from
his cage before the ruling, according to news reports. "I ask you to decide
my case fairly. I never offered or sold anyone drugs."

His attorney promised to appeal.