American handed a 15-day sentence by a Moscow court on charges of disorderly conduct

MOSCOW — A court in the Russian capital on Wednesday handed a 15-day sentence to a U.S. citizen on charges of minor disorderly conduct.

Moscow’s District Court ordered the American, identified as Joseph Tater, to spend 15 days under administrative arrest on “petty hooliganism” charges.

Earlier Wednesday, Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top criminal investigation agency, said that it had opened a criminal case against an unidentified U.S. citizen accused of attacking a police officer.

Russian state news agencies Tass and RIA-Novosti said that the American became abusive after being asked to show his documents at an upscale hotel on Monday evening. They claimed that the American “behaved aggressively” and used profanities when the hotel refused to accommodate him, citing a lack of required documents. The reports said that the man attacked a police officer when he was taken to a police precinct.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said they were aware of the reports, but wouldn’t make further comments because of privacy restrictions.

Several Americans are serving sentences in Russia on drug or theft convictions.

A U.S.-Russian dual national, Ksenia Khavana, is expected to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty in a closed trial to raising money for Ukraine’s military. Prosecutors called for a 15-year term.

In the largest Russia-West prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, Russia this month released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and American corporate security executive Paul Whelan, both of whom were imprisoned on espionage convictions. Russia also released U.S.-Russian dual national Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe journalist sentenced to 6½ years for spreading “false information” about the Russian military.