Fort Worth native and Marine Corps veteran Trevor Reed is facing a nine-year prison sentence in Russia.
Reed was sentenced yesterday in a Russian court but a statement from US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan says the case and the evidence were "so preposterous that they provoked laughter in the courtroom."
Reed's family says the accusations of assaulting two Russian police officers after a night of drinking are trumped up with political motives.
Born in Fort Worth, Reed grew up in California where he graduated from high school before returning to North Texas for college after which he enlisted in the Marine Corps.