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U.S. Ex‑Marine Robert Gilman’s Sentence Increased to 10 Years After New Prison Assault Conviction in Russia

06:23 AM, 12/04/2025
U.S. Ex‑Marine Robert Gilman’s Sentence Increased to 10 Years After New Prison Assault Conviction in Russia

Russian courts have increased Robert Gilman’s sentence by two years to a total of 10 years after finding him guilty of attacking prison staff in the Voronezh region. Gilman was first detained in January 2022 following a disturbance on a train and initially convicted of assaulting a police officer. Subsequent convictions in custody raised his term to eight years and one month before the most recent extension. Gilman says threats of transfer to a harsher colony prompted his rule violations and will not appeal the new decision.

Russian authorities have extended the prison sentence of U.S. citizen and former Marine Robert Gilman after a regional court found him guilty of assaulting prison personnel, adding two years to his sentence and bringing the total to 10 years.

The Voronezh regional court concluded that an incident in custody, in which prosecutors say Gilman attacked two prison guards, constituted a separate offense warranting additional punishment. Gilman remains incarcerated in the Voronezh facility.

Gilman, who is from Dracut, Massachusetts, was first detained in January 2022 after transport police removed him from a train in Voronezh following complaints that he was intoxicated and causing a disturbance. At the time he was held on a petty hooliganism charge. He later told the court he believed his drink had been spiked.

In 2022 Gilman was convicted of assaulting a police officer and sentenced to three and a half years. While in custody his legal troubles escalated: in 2024 he was convicted of attacking a prison inspector during a cell inspection, assaulting an investigator and beating another guard. Those convictions raised his sentence to eight years and one month prior to the most recent ruling.

Local outlets reported that Gilman admitted to some of the assaults. He told the court that he began breaking prison rules after being threatened with transfer to a maximum‑security penal colony and that he preferred to remain in the Voronezh facility because conditions there were more humane and he could receive packages from relatives.

At the hearing Gilman apologized and said he wanted to stay at the Voronezh detention center. His lawyer, Irina Brazhnikova, stated that he would not appeal the latest verdict.

Gilman is among at least nine Americans still imprisoned in Russia following a series of high‑profile prisoner exchanges in 2024 and 2025. Several of those detainees have U.S. military backgrounds. Supporters in the United States say Gilman was unwell when first detained and that provocation and illness contributed to the events that led to his additional charges.

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