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<p>A Russian court on Monday sentenced a member of the American military to three years and nine months in prison on charges that he stole from and threatened to kill his girlfriend, according to state media.</p>
<p>Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, is alleged to have grabbed his Russian girlfriend by the neck while in a friend’s apartment in the far eastern city of Vladivostok in May, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.</p>
<p>Black’s girlfriend also accused him of stealing 10,000 rubles ($113) from her wallet.</p>
<p>U.S. Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith earlier confirmed to POLITICO that Russian authorities had detained a soldier in Vladivostok on charges of “criminal misconduct.” The Army had notified the soldier’s family, she said.</p>
<p>Melody Jones, Black’s mother, told American broadcaster NBC that Black and his girlfriend had been seeing each other in South Korea for over a year and that her son “wanted to see her for the last time before going home.”</p>
<p>“He met her in the bar where she was working, and they’ve been together, on and off, for about a year and a half. I’ve never met her in person, but I’ve spoken to her over Messenger. My motherly instincts told me something was wrong with her,” Jones said.</p>
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