Russian court jails U.S. pastor for smuggling

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Monday sentenced a U.S. pastor to three years in prison for illegally bringing hunting ammunition into the country.

Phillip Miles was arrested in a Moscow airport on Feb. 3 for smuggling in a box with 20 rounds of undeclared hunting ammunition in his luggage. Miles said at the time it was a present for his friend, a pastor from the Urals city of Perm.

For this violation of Russian law a judge in Moscow's Golovinsky district court ruled that the 52-year-old evangelist from Christ Community Church in Conway, South Carolina, will spend three years and two months in a prison camp.

South Carolina internet newspaper MyrtleBeachOnline (wwww.myrtlebeachonline.com) said the ammunition was found by customs officials at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in late January, when Miles was entering Russia.

But the priest was allowed to continue his journey and was detained in Sheremetyevo on his way back from Perm.

Interfax news agency quoted Miles as saying he regretted violating Russian law, but he also called his sentence "severe".

The court rejected arguments by Miles, who has visited Russia more than once, that he was unaware of customs regulations for bringing in ammunition.

Defence lawyers said they will appeal against the sentence in Moscow city court.