A Russian court has sentenced a former US embassy employee to 14 years in prison for drug trafficking, the Interfax news agency reports.

The agency indicated that Mark Vogel was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow in August 2021 while in possession of drugs. She added that he worked at the embassy but was working at an Anglo-American school in the city at the time of his arrest.

According to the agency, Vogel pleaded guilty to charges of smuggling, possession, transportation, manufacture and processing of drugs.

In January, CBS News reported that Vogel told visiting lawyers that he was using marijuana for medical reasons after spinal surgery. The channel quotes him as saying that he had 17 grams at the time of his arrest.

The decision comes amid growing tensions between Russia and the United States over the war in Ukraine and other issues.

Basketball star Britney Grenier was arrested at a Moscow airport on February 17 after carrying e-cigarette cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. This week, her pre-trial detention was extended until the second of July.