Russia gives U.S. man it accuses of illegally transporting weapons a 5-year prison term

CBS ^ | January 19, 2025 | Staff

[xxqqzz]

Russia has sentenced an American man to five years in prison for illegally transporting weapons, a court said Monday, noting that a rifle was found on his yacht after it docked in the port city of Sochi last June. Russian media said he smuggle the weapons on his private yacht from July 2024 — June 2025.

Dozens of Westerners, including Americans, have been imprisoned in Russia, especially after the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, with many of them later swapped in prisoner exchanges.

"A U.S. citizen was found guilty of illegally transporting and moving firearms," the regional court's' press service said in a statement. It identified him as Charles Wayne Zimmerman and said he "admitted his guilt in full" and was "sentenced to five years in prison."

Zimmerman's sister says he was detained by Russian authorities in international waters and forced to pilot his vessel to Sochi, and that he should be formally designated by the U.S. State Department as wrongfully detained by Russia.

The Sochi court didn't mention when he was sentenced, but said an appeal against the conviction had been rejected. It was the first time his arrest and conviction has been mentioned in Russian media, which usually cover judicial proceedings of foreign citizens closely.

According to the court, the man sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It cited him as saying he'd met a Russian woman online and decided to visit her and that he didn't know he was forbidden to keep a weapon on his yacht while it was docked in Russia.

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TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Russia
KEYWORDS: arms

[xxqqzz]

He was convicted of arms smuggling because he had a rifle on board his yacht. His family says he was sailing in international waters and was intercepted by a Russian ship. Obvious reasons for having a rifle on a yacht sailing on the high seas.

[roving]

It was stupid of him to be there in the first place.

[TexasGator]

“He was sailing from the U.S. to New Zealand, so of course he had a firearm on board.”

Last zI looked, the Black Sea is not on that route ...

[TexasGator]

“It was stupid of him to be there in the first place.”

That is lie a war zone.

[marktwain]

It is not illegal to have a rifle in international waters. The laws of the country who owns a port are what counts in port.

Many countries allow you to keep firearms on board if they are unloaded and locked up.

It is a dicey part of international law.

[Chgogal]

Although I would love to visit St Petersburg, you will never catch me in Russia.

[ealgeone]

Made a wrong turn at Albuquerque.