A Granbury couple, whose son is imprisoned in Russia, is “pleading with federal officials to bring up their son’s case, as leaders from the United States and Russia meet amid heightened tensions,” NBC DFW reported.
Trevor Reed, a 29-year-old Marine veteran, has been in a Russian prison for more than two years. His parents claim he was sentenced without evidence or proof of the allegations against him.
In August 2019, Reed was in Moscow to visit his girlfriend. Allegedly, Reed assaulted police officers who had picked him up after a night of heavy drinking at a party. While on the way to the station, Russian authorities claim that he “grabbed the arm of the driver, causing him to swerve into another lane, and elbowed another officer who tried to intervene,” according to court documents.
Video of the alleged incident recorded inside the police car was never given to Trevor Reed’s defense team. In July 2020, Reed was convicted and sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison camp.
The court document explains that even though Reed’s attorneys were denied the police video, they were given access to a one-hour-long traffic video of where the alleged incident occurred and where the police car was spotted. According to Reed’s attorneys, the vehicle did not stop, slow down, change direction, leave its lane, or swerve.
The United States Embassy in Moscow claims Reed is being denied any communication outside of the jail and any medical treatment if needed. Reed’s parents claim that it has been six months since authorities have allowed them to speak to their son.
John Sullivan, U.S. Ambassador to Russia, was at Trevor Reed’s trial in July 2020 and stated that the lack of evidence and the case the prosecutor made against him was “so preposterous that they provoked laughter in the courtroom” and “justice was not even considered.”
Reed’s parents hope the case will be brought to light while American leaders meet with Russian officials about the current situation regarding the Russian military poised to invade Ukraine.
“At this point we believe any negotiations that go on with Russia or any other country that is holding Americans hostage or wrongfully, they should be included in whatever talks are going on with that nation,” Reed’s father Joey Reed expressed to NBC.
Trevor Reed served as a guard at Camp David during Obama’s administration.
“Remember, our son guarded the President and the Vice President, who is now the President, and was willing to die for them; and right now, our son is slowly dying in a prison cell in Russia. I want all the people in Washington to remember that when they sleep in their nice comfortable beds tonight,” Reed’s father remarked.