MOSCOW — Robert Woodland, a Russian-born U.S. citizen, was convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on Thursday.

U.S. citizen Robert Woodland Romanov sits in a cage prior to a court session on drug-related charges in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, April 15. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press file

He was found guilty of attempted trafficking of large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group.

Russian media reported that his name matches that of a U.S. citizen interviewed in 2020. The man said he was born in the Perm region in 1991 and adopted by an American couple at age 2.

He said he traveled to Russia to find his mother and eventually met her on a TV show before deciding to move there. Russian news agency Interfax has cited court officials as saying that Woodland also holds Russian citizenship.

Arrests of Americans in Russia have become increasingly common as relations between Moscow and Washington sink to Cold War lows. Washington accuses Moscow of targeting its citizens and using them as political bargaining chips, but Russian officials insist they all broke the law.

Some have been exchanged for Russians held in the U.S., while for others, the prospects of being released in a swap are less clear.

The U.S. State Department said Thursday it was aware that a U.S. citizen was sentenced by a Russian court and that the embassy in Moscow was closely monitoring the case. The department, citing privacy issues, said it would have no further comment.