Reed, a former U.S. Marine, was jailed in July by a Moscow court to nine years in a Russian penal colony after already spending over a year in detention. Reed was convicted of assaulting two police officers, but in his trial police presented virtually no evidence Reed had actually done so and repeatedly contradicted their stories.

Pfluger introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for Reed’s immediate release.

“Trevor is my constituent in Granbury, Texas,” Pfluger said. “He’s an Eagle Scout, a U.S. Marine, but more importantly a beloved son who has been sentenced to spend a decade of his life in a Russian prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Trevor was initially denied for public intoxication but when the Russian federal security service discovered that he’s a U.S. Marine, they upped the charges and accused him of endangering the lives of police officers. These charges were clearly politically motivated and the entire process has been a sham. The accusation, the lack of evidence to support it was so ridiculous that even a Russian judge erupted in laughter in the courtroom during the trial at the lack of evidence. U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan said justice was not even considered in this case and described the trial as theater of the absurd. Our resolution and our message are simple – the United States will not tolerate an American citizen being held by the Putin regime as a political pawn. Free Trevor Reed.”