US Army veteran Charles Wayne Zimmerman has been sentenced to 5 years in a Russian prison
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A US military veteran, who was reportedly sailing internationally until Russian authorities forced him to stop his boat at gunpoint, has been sentenced to five years in prison for arms smuggling, court officials announced Monday.
The Krasnodar Krai court system identified the man as Charles Wayne Zimmerman, 58, who US officials had reported missing before Monday’s announcement. A website set up to support Zimmerman described him as a US Army veteran, father of two and an electrician, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
According to local authorities, Zimmerman docked his boat in the Russian port city of Sochi on June 19, 2025, after leaving North Carolina in July 2024 and passing through several European countries. During border control in Sochi, Zimmerman allegedly failed to reveal the gun on the boat. Authorities said later tests revealed weapons and ammunition, which they said were purchased by Zimmerman before entering Russia.
At the subsequent court hearing, “the accused fully pleaded guilty,” the Krasnodar Krai court system said. Records show that Zimmerman was convicted in October and that the Sochi court’s decision was upheld two months later by the Krasnodar District Court, the AP reported.
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A general view of the Seaport in Black Sea resort on May 14, 2015, in Sochi, Russia. (Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
Zimmerman’s sister, Robin Stultz, said her brother was wrongfully detained in Russia, and that Russian authorities forced him to sail his boat to Sochi from international waters, according to the AP.
“He was sailing in international waters when he was intercepted by the Russian Navy and forced to drive 22 hours to Sochi,” Shultz said in a statement to CBS News.
Zimmerman reportedly disclosed his weapons but was charged, Shultz said, saying his arrest was a logical step by Russia to use him as a powerful tool in US trade.
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A photo taken from a helicopter shows a view of the Black Sea coast near Sochi, Russia, on October 26, 2010. (MIKHAIL MORDASOV / AFP via Getty Images)
“He was coming from the US to New Zealand, so he was carrying a gun,” he told the AP in a statement. “You can’t just call 911 if something is wrong at sea. He exposed himself willingly and they charged him with arms smuggling. This is an obvious scheme to find another American they can trade. He must be declared unlawfully detained.”
His sister added that she “can’t trust any ‘confessions’ the Russians are making,” and alleged that Russian authorities have denied her brother access to American embassies since his arrest.
Washington has accused Moscow of imprisoning Americans to use as Russian spies held abroad. Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, scores of Westerners, including Americans, have been imprisoned in Russia, with many later released in prisoner exchanges.
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A general view of Sochi harbor on June 22, 2017, in Sochi, Russia. (Alex Grimm – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Russian authorities reported that Zimmerman decided to travel to Sochi alone after he reportedly met a Russian woman online. Although he reportedly did not know it was illegal to keep weapons on his boat when he arrived at the dock, authorities said “ignorance of the law does not absolve him of liability.”
“He met a girl on the Internet who lives in Kazan and decided to join her in Russia on his boat,” said the Krasnodar Krai court system. “Before he went out, he didn’t bother to research the Russian laws and thought that the weapons he kept on board should stay on board at all times.”
A video released by the district court shows a stationary boat, one black hunting rifle in a case and two boxes of Remington rifle-caliber cartridges.
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On September 6, 2024, the US Coast Guard’s East region issued a missing person alert for 57-year-old Charles Zimmerman, who had sailed from North Carolina on his 35-foot blue and white sailboat, named Trude Zena. It is reported that he is heading to New Zealand, with plans to stop in the Mediterranean Sea.
