U.S. Navy veteran sentenced to five years in Russia over weapons on sailboat

Charles Wayne Zimmerman, a 58-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who had been sailing from North Carolina to New Zealand, was sentenced in Russia to five years after being convicted of "arms smuggling" over a rifle, a pistol and ammunition found on his sailboat, court documents show. Sentencing documents posted by the Central District Court in Sochi say Mr.

Zimmerman had headed toward Russia hoping to meet a woman he encountered on Instagram, identified in the documents by the handle Evil Elya. The appeals court confirmed on Monday that it had upheld the five-year sentence and published video showing Mr. Zimmerman on his boat and glimpses of the weapons and ammunition.

The U.S. State Department confirmed Mr. Zimmerman’s incarceration and said it was providing "consular assistance," and his sister, Robin Stultz, said no U.S. diplomat has visited him since his detention last June. Family accounts and the court record differ over how he came to be in Russia: his sister says the Russian Navy intercepted his sailboat and escorted it to Sochi, while Russian court documents do not mention an interception.

Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer argued on appeal that he had been unaware possession of the weapon was illegal under Russian law and that a five-year sentence was excessive, according to the appeals court documents. He is being held in a penal colony in the Krasnodar region and the seven months he has already spent in custody will count toward his sentence.

Key Topics

World, Charles Zimmerman, Russia, Sochi, Krasnodar Region, Us Navy