An American in Moscow has been given 15 days behind bars, with Reuters reporting that a charge of "petty hooliganism" is behind the sentence. A Moscow district court handed down Joseph Tater's fate on Wednesday, accusing him of minor disorderly conduct after an incident at a ritzy hotel earlier this week. Per Russian state news agencies, Tater was set off on Monday night when asked to show his documents at the hotel and "behaved aggressively," reports the AP. That alleged behavior included swearing at hotel staff, as well as assaulting a police officer when he was transported to a local police station.
According to the Tass news agency, the officer attacked by Tater was female, CNN reports. The outlet notes that Tater is now facing a separate criminal case for using violence against a government official, for which he could see five years in prison. The US State Department says it's aware of the charges against Tater but doesn't have many other details.
"We're working to get as much information as we can," a department spokesperson says. After the historic prisoner swap earlier this month that led to the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, multiple Americans remain detained in Russia, including Marc Fogel, a teacher convicted in 2022 of illegally possessing cannabis, and Ksenia Khavana, a dual US-Russian national who pleaded guilty to fundraising for Ukraine's military. (More Russia stories.)