Exclusive-US Army stops paying soldier imprisoned in Russia, may prosecute him

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Army has stopped paying wages and allowances to a U.S. soldier sentenced last month to nearly four years in a Russian penal colony and may prosecute him if he returns to the United States, U.S. officials said.

Gordon Black, a 34-year-old staff sergeant, was convicted in Russia of theft and threatening murder. But he broke a series of Army rules first, traveling to Russia without U.S. military authorization, and flying through China to get there.

He was also having an extramarital affair - prohibited in the U.S. military - with a Russian woman named Alexandra Vashchuk, who he met during a deployment in South Korea. During leave from the military, Black followed her to Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok, where she reported him to the police after an argument.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, drew a comparison to the case of U.S. Army Private Travis King, who last year ran into North Korea and was taken into custody there. Once the United States secured his release, King was charged in October by the Army with crimes including desertion.

"When Black is back in the United States, there will be probably consequences, just as Private King is experiencing consequences for essentially unacceptable behavior," the official said.

"So the Army is going to do the right thing in terms of punishing bad behavior."

Black's case created another headache for U.S. officials already coping with several high-profile detentions in Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has said the case was not political and the U.S. military has not weighed in on the substance of the charges against Black in Russia.

Black was arrested in Vladivostok in May after he and Vashchuk had an argument, and on June 19 a Russian judge found Black guilty of stealing $10,000 rubles ($116) from his girlfriend's purse and threatening to kill her. He pleaded not guilty to threatening to kill Vashchuk but admitted he took the money and said he did so out of necessity.

His defense lawyer in Russia, who has said she will appeal the verdict, was not immediately reachable for comment.

The violations of Army rules present a quandary for the U.S. military, given the high-profile nature of Black's arrest and the fact he has a wife and daughter near Fort Cavazos in Texas who depended on benefits, including a portion of his housing allowance.

In May, the military quietly decided to stop paying Black his wages and housing allowance, Army officials told Reuters.

CONTROVERSIAL DECISION

An Army spokesperson told Reuters Black's status was now CCA, or "Confined Civilian Authority," and that he is being kept on active duty without pay or allowances. The Army is maintaining medical benefits and base privileges for Black's family members.

Franklin Rosenblatt, an associate professor at Mississippi College School of Law and former Army Judge Advocate General, suggested the decision to change Black's status to CCA would be routine, if he were detained in the United States.

But assigning that status to him in Russia could be controversial, Rosenblatt said.

"There's a concern here that we may be giving legitimacy to the proceedings conducted in Russia with how we reflect his duty and pay status," he said, when informed by Reuters about Black's CCA status.

The U.S. military is not providing Black with any special military counsel, the Army has said.

Black's wife and mother, in interviews with Reuters, have portrayed a sometimes violent relationship between Black and his girlfriend.

His wife Megan recounted a time that Black's girlfriend stabbed him during a drunken video-call from Seoul with his daughter back in Texas.

Black's mother, Melody Jones, said he had followed his girlfriend to Russia even though they "fought like cats and dogs."

In Russia, prosecutors said that during an argument at Vashchuk's apartment, Black had grabbed her by the neck before taking her money. Black argued that Vashchuk had drunk half a bottle of vodka that day, was aggressive and had struck him.

Rosenblatt said while the Army might want to prosecute him now, it may opt against doing so if Black were to end up serving his entire sentence of three years and nine months in a Russian penal colony.

"What happened to him there (Russia) and serving that sentence, it does not entitle him automatically to confinement credit, but ... that may be a strong reason to grant leniency," he said.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Filipp Lebedev in London; Editing by Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)