RUSSIAN COURT GIVES U.S. STUDENT THREE-YEAR TERM ON DRUG CHARGES

MOSCOW - The case has became entangled in the diplomatic clash between
Washington and Moscow after the Robert Hanssen spy scandal. A Russian
prosecutor admitted the drug charges were shaky.

A Russian court sentenced an American student Friday to more than three
years in prison on drug charges in a case that became entangled in the
high-profile diplomatic clash between Washington and Moscow after the
Robert Hanssen spy scandal.

John Tobin, 24, a Fulbright scholar studying political science, stood in a
courtroom cage, as is customary for defendants in Russian criminal trials,
while Judge Tatyana Korchagina 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.

Maxim Bayev, Tobin's attorney, promised to appeal.

The ruling presents a fresh challenge to U.S. officials who have labored to
ease tensions in the month since President George W. Bush authorized the
expulsion of 50 Russian diplomats in retaliation for 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 Friday. But if
it cannot persuade Russian officials to return Tobin to the United States
rather than send him a Russian prison, the impasse could hinder attempts to
rebuild relations at a time when both sides are discussing a possible
get-acquainted summit meeting between Bush and Russian President Vladimir
Putin.

Although Tobin's arrest in January took place weeks before Hanssen's,
Russian security services made a point of heavily publicizing it only after
the FBI agent was accused of espionage and of asserting that Tobin was a
spy in training. 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
again pointed the finger at him Friday, suggesting that he had suspiciously
visited a power plant and recorded his talks with politicians.

But the testimony in court focused on the drug charges against Tobin.
Originally from Ridgefield, Conn., Tobin was studying at Voronezh State
University and working on a thesis about the changes in Russia in the last
decade when he ran afoul of 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 his apartment at which drugs were
allegedly made available. Authorities went after Tobin with zeal, asserting
that he ran a drug den and initially asking for a 15-year prison term.

"Ashamed to sit here"

But the case took a surprise turn in the courtroom 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, pointing the finger at a roommate who left the
country before the arrest. "I don't have anything to do with drugs," he
said Friday 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."