VORONEZH, October 18. /TASS/. US citizen Robert Gilman appealed his sentence for assaulting a police officer in Voronezh, Voronezh Central District Court spokeswoman told TASS Tuesday.

"A preliminary appeal was filed by [Gilman’s] lawyer. The main appeal will follow later, because Gilman has not yet received the English translation [of the sentence], he only got it in Russian. So they filed a preliminary appeal, and it was accepted," the spokeswoman said.

After the main appeal is filed, a deadline will be set for the other side to file an objection, and then it will be forwarded to the Voronezh Regional Court.

Earlier, TASS reported that the Voronezh Central District Court found Gilman guilty on October 4 and sentenced him to 4.5 years in a penal colony for assaulting a policeman. Gilman’s lawyer told reporters that he intends to contact the US authorities in order to initiate a prisoner exchange so that his client can return home.

On January 17, 2020, Gilman was taken to a police precinct in Voronezh because of his disorderly conduct on a Sukumi-Moscow passenger train. At the precinct, Gilman kicked a policeman in the leg at least two times, after which a criminal case was initiated, charging him with the use of violence against an officer on duty. Gilman was also subjected to administrative probes for minor misconduct and violation of this stay in Russia, which carried a monetary fine and 5 days of administrative detention. After being released, he was arrested on a criminal charge of assaulting a policeman.