In Russia, Putin critic Alexei Navalny found guilty of fraud, faces 13 years in prison

A Russian court on Tuesday found prominent critic of Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, guilty of fraud, according to reports out of Russia.

Navalny, who is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence, is now facing a 13-year extension of his time behind bars at a maximum security facility.

The Moscow judge, Margarita Kotova, announced that Navalny was guilty of committing "fraud, i.e. the theft of someone else's property by deception." The conviction pertains to the accusation that the opposition leader embezzled more than $4 million from his own nonprofit organization. 

During the summer of 2020, Navalny was poisoned in an apparent assassination attempt that he pins on the Kremlin. He recovered in Germany before returning to Russia to face a trial that was sure to end in conviction. He was placed in prison in January of 2021. 

This January, Navalny was added to Russia's "extremist and terrorist" list, months after his Anti-Corruption Foundation – that he was convicted of stealing from – was labeled as "extremist" and was banned.