AMERICAN GETS 3 YEARS IN DRUG TRAFFICKING CASE

VORONEZH, Russia - An American Fulbright scholar was sentenced to
more than 3 years in prison on drug charges Friday in a verdict his
lawyer said was influenced by accusations from Russia's secret
services that he was a spy in training.

John Tobin, 24, of Ridgefield, Conn., had firmly asserted his
innocence. During the trial, a prosecutor who said police apparently
doctored reports in the case asked for the most serious drug
trafficking charges against him to be thrown out. Tobin was convicted
on the lesser charges of obtaining, possessing and distributing marijuana.

Tobin was arrested Jan. 26 outside a nightclub in Voronezh. Police
said he had a small matchbox containing marijuana and that a small
packet of the drug was found in a book in his apartment.

The arrest attracted little attention until about a month later, when
the Federal Security Service stated publicly that Tobin, who was
studying at Voronezh State University under a grant, was apparently
training to be a spy.

Although he was not charged with spying, "the social fuss that has
been pumped up by certain law enforcement officials could not but
influence the attitude toward this case and the way it was
investigated," his attorney, Maxim Bayev, said after the verdict.

The accusation about Tobin's intelligence connections came about a
week after U.S. investigators arrested FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen
on charges of spying for Russia, escalating tensions over espionage
between Washington and Moscow. Tobin, a graduate of Middlebury
College, had studied at a U.S. military school and at the U.S. Defense
Language Institute.

"I am a student. I came here to study. I don't have anything to do
with drugs," Tobin said in his final statement to the court, speaking
from the metal cage in which defendants are kept in Russian trials.

Four hours later, Judge Tatyana Korchagina read the verdict in a
courtroom packed with journalists, supporters and curious Voronezh
residents. Tobin stood with his hands behind his back, listening
attentively but showing no reaction.

Bayev said he would appeal the sentence and demand in particular that
the conviction for distribution be overturned because it was not
supported by the evidence. He said he also would protest the way the
investigation was carried out.

Earlier in the trial, the prosecutor accused police of overstating by
10 times the amount of marijuana allegedly found on Tobin - from 0.148
grams in the initial report to 1.48 grams later - and asked for the
dropping of charges of running a drug den and obtaining and possessing
drugs as part of a criminal gang, which carried sentences of up to 15
years.

"The position of the prosecutor's office ... is telling," Bayev
said.

After the verdict, Pavel Bolshunov, spokesman for the Voronezh branch
of the Federal Security Service, said the agency was interested in
learning about Tobin.

"Was he just studying here or was he doing something else." Bolshunov
said. "He did not violate anything (in terms of state security), he
just behaved strangely."

Severe sentences for possessing small amounts of drugs are not unusual
in Russia, even for first offenders, said Karina Moskalenko, a
prominent defense attorney and human rights activist in Moscow.
Russian law defines more than 0.1 grams of marijuana as a "large
amount," Moskalenko said.