princess yachts court case

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• Princess Yacht Limited fined £600k after worker suffered life-changing injuries
• Accidents at Work News

A luxury yacht manufacturer based in Plymouth has been fined £600k and ordered to pay costs of £9,146 after one of its employees suffered catastrophic life-changing injuries when he was crushed by a scaffolding frame.

Following the incident on November 9 th , 2021, Mark Gillen, an experienced laminator who had been working for Princess Yacht Limited for 26 years, was rushed to hospital by helicopter, where he received urgent medical treatment.

An HSE investigation later found that the company had failed to assess the risks associated with moving the equipment and to take appropriate steps to protect workers.

Princess Yacht pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974, receiving a substantial fine at a hearing which took place at Plymouth Magistrates Court on November 30 th , 2023.

Following the incident, Mr Gillen’s family instructed Thompsons Solicitors to further investigate the circumstances surrounding his injuries and whether more should have been done to protect him.

Princess Yachts Limited has since admitted liability, and Mr Gillen’s legal team is now working to secure a settlement that will provide him with the ongoing rehabilitation and specialist equipment that he desperately needs.

Commenting on the case Lisa Gunner the partner at Thompsons Solicitors representing Mr Gillen said: “Mark’s injuries have had a devastating impact on his physical and psychological health and wellbeing, leaving him in constant pain and robbing him of his ability to return to the job he once enjoyed. His wife and children, who at one point did not know if he would even survive, have also suffered immeasurably.

“While he has made considerable strides in his recovery, at just 54 years old when the incident happened Mark’s future now looks very different to what it once did.

“Further to the admission of liability from his employer, Princess Yachts, we are now working to secure a comprehensive rehabilitation package that will help him to rebuild his life, alleviating some of the financial burden and ensuring that he has access to all of the therapies, treatments and specialist equipment needed to help him.”

Speaking following the hearing, which took place on November 30 th , 2023, Mr Gillen’s wife, Sarah Gillen, said: “Our worlds were turned upside down the day Mark had the catastrophic crush accident, leaving him with life-changing injuries. He simply went to work at Princess Yachts that morning, while he was eventually able to come home our lives will never be the same.

“Looking back now, the situation was very critical, and we nearly lost him that day because of his multiple complex injuries.

“We are incredibly lucky to still have him with us, but there is no denying that the road to recovery has been, and continues to be, extremely difficult and challenging.

“We are very grateful to the team at the HSE for all the work that has gone into holding Princess Yachts to account. However, the sad reality is that no fine, no matter how significant, will ever truly reflect the pain and ongoing suffering that Mark and our family has been through.”

Sarah added that before the incident, her husband had been a fit, healthy, strong and determined man.

“He had enjoyed weight training, the boxing gym, cycling and playing golf with friends and a very active social life” she said. “Now though, he is in constant chronic nerve pain which affects his ability to participate in the things he once loved, which in turn has a huge detrimental impact on his health and wellbeing.

“It is our hope that today’s outcome will act as a wakeup call to Princess Yachts and other companies about the devastating and serious consequences of health and safety failings in the workplace, and that lessons are learnt that could prevent others being injured, or worse, in similar circumstances.”

Correct at the time of publishing.

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Trial begins in £1m Princess Yachts fraud case

The Princess Yachts fraud trial has got underway at Plymouth Crown Court, with former facilities manager Glyn Thompson in the dock

The former facilities manager of Princess Yachts has gone on trial at Plymouth Crown Court for defrauding the firm out of more than £1million.

Glyn Thompson, 57 of Peverell, is accused of carrying out a complex Princess Yachts fraud plot via a front company called Construction Solutions South West.

He set up the firm with Darren Tallon, 43 of Plympton, who is also on trial for fraud, the Plymouth Herald reports.

The trial, which began last week, is expected to run until January 2016, but Princess Yachts managing director Chris Gates has already taken the stand to give evidence.

He told the court that Mr Thompson was a “very good manipulator” and admitted that the firm did not apply due diligence when signing off on the contracts he recommended.

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Mr Thompson was appointed as facilities manager by Princess Yachts in 2009 after his construction business went bust.

Prosecutor Andrew Maitland claimed in his opening statement that the defendant advised Mr Gates to set a maximum spending limit for work on the South Yard of Devonport Dockyard.

However, when sub-contractors supplied a much lower quote for the job, Construction Solutions South West would “pocket the difference”, the court heard.

It is alleged that the company profited by more than £100,000 from two major projects, as well as many smaller deals between 2010 and 2013. In some cases this amounted to a “50% mark-up”, the prosecution added.

The conspiracy was only uncovered when an innocent supplier tipped off Ian Duffin, former Finance Director of Princess Yachts, via e-mail in July 2013, triggering a police investigation.

Mr Duffin, who has also given evidence, told the court: “There was a huge level of trust between the members of the management team. We respected each other.”

Mr Thompson’s assistant Roger Truen and two other men have already pleaded guilty in the ongoing Princess Yachts fraud case. The trial continues.

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Risk Management

Insurer prevails in ruling over destroyed yacht in forum selection case

Judy Greenwald

A federal appeals court agreed with a lower court on Wednesday that an insurer can enforce its policy’s forum selection clause in litigation over a destroyed yacht.

The Princess Alia, a 62-foot yacht destroyed by fire in 2021 while harboring in Cabo San Lucas Mexico, was owned by Ralph Eads through his company, Princess Alia LLC, according to the ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans in Ralph Eads; Princess Alia LLC v. Spheric Assurance Co. Ltd.

The yacht’s insurer, British Virgin Islands-based Spheric, denied coverage, citing various warranty violations and a lack of clarity as to the fire’s cause, according to the ruling.

Plaintiffs sued Spheric in state court in Texas, alleging breach of contract, bad faith and unfair settlement practices.

Spheric moved the litigation to the U.S. District Court in Houston, then filed a motion to dismiss the case based on the policy’s forum selection clause, which called for litigation to be held in the British Virgin Islands.

The plaintiffs opposed the motion on public policy grounds, contending British Virgin Islands law “would allow Spheric to evade its alleged coverage obligations based on immaterial warranty violations, while Texas law would not,” the ruling said.

The district court granted the motion to dismiss the lawsuit, affording plaintiffs leave to refile in the British Virgin Islands. Its ruling was affirmed by a three-judge appeals court panel.

The issue of whether Texas public policy “allows enforcement of a forum selection clause mandating a jurisdiction with purportedly less favorable insurance laws – has already been decided in the affirmative,” said the panel, citing the 5th Circuit’s ruling in May in another forum selection case involving a yacht, Noble House LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London.

In that case, the appeals court affirmed a ruling in Lloyd’s of London underwriters’ favor and held that coverage litigation over a damaged yacht must be held in England or Wales rather than in the United States.

Further, to the extent the earlier ruling on this issue “is not perfectly analogous, Plaintiffs nonetheless fail to carry their ‘heavy burden of proof’ to resist enforcement of the forum selection clause,” the ruling said, in citing another case.

“In short, Texas law may leave open some avenue for disregarding selection clause on public policy grounds, but the Supreme Court of Texas” has “declined explicit invitations to do so,” the ruling said, in affirming the lower court’s ruling.

Attorneys in the case had no comment or did not respond to a request for comment. 

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Yacht sales agents hit with US class action over commission fees

Reporting by Mike Scarcella

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Mike Scarcella, David Thomas

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BYS INTERNATIONAL YACHTING LLC V PRINCESS YACHTS AMERICA INC

Case summary, case details.

*********************X-MB

Pending - Other Pending

Contract - Debt Collection

Palm Beach County 15th Judicial Circuit Courts

Main Branch

Palm Beach, Florida

Judge Details

CURLEY , G JOSEPH

Party Details

Petitioner and plaintiff.

BYS INTERNATIONAL YACHTING LLC

Defendants and Respondents

H M Y YACHT SALES INC

PRINCESS YACHTS AMERICA INC

Attorney/Law Firm Details

Petitioner and plaintiff attorney.

MOORE , MICHAEL T

Defendant and Respondent Attorneys

CONNICK , A THOMAS

WEISZ , MICHAEL O

Court Documents

01/04/2023:DCM WITH JURY TRIAL ORDER

11/17/2022:ORD SUBSTITUTION COUNSEL

11/16/2022:MOTION FOR SUBATITUTION OF COUNSEL - F/B PLT

09/17/2022:ORDER DENYING CURLEY: HMY YACHT SALES INC MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS COMPLAINT - 20 DAYS TO ANSWER DTD 9-17-22

09/13/2022:ANSWER

09/07/2022:OBJECTION

09/07/2022:MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME

09/01/2022:MEMORANDUM OF LAW

08/30/2022:NOTICE OF HEARING

08/26/2022:ANSWER & AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

08/24/2022:NOTICE OF UNAVAILABILITY

08/17/2022:REQUEST TO PRODUCE

08/15/2022:NOTICE OF APPEARANCE CIVIL

08/12/2022:REQUEST TO PRODUCE

08/11/2022:MOTION TO DISMISS

08/04/2022:SERVICE RETURNED (NUMBERED)

Docket Entries

Docket DCM WITH JURY TRIAL ORDER; Notes: G. JOSEPH CURLEY, JR 01/04/2023

Docket ORD SUBSTITUTION COUNSEL; Notes: G CURLEY DTD. 11/17/22 MOORE & COMPANY IS SUBSTITUTED FOR CARLTON FIELDS OBO PLTF

Docket MOTION FOR SUBATITUTION OF COUNSEL - F/B PLT; Notes: FOR SUBATITUTION OF COUNSEL - F/B PLT

Docket ORDER DENYING CURLEY: HMY YACHT SALES INC MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS COMPLAINT - 20 DAYS TO ANSWER DTD 9-17-22; Notes: CURLEY: HMY YACHT SALES INC MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS COMPLAINT - 20 DAYS TO ANSWER DTD 9-17-22

Docket ANSWER; Notes: TO PLTS COMPLAINT F/B DFT HMY YACHT SALES INC

Docket OBJECTION; Notes: TO PLTS FIRST REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION F/B DFT YACHTS AMERICA INC

Docket MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME; Notes: TO RESPOND TO PLTS FIRST REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION F/B DFT PRINCESS YACHTS AMERICA INC

Docket MEMORANDUM OF LAW; Notes: IN OPPOSITION TO HMY'S MOTION TO DISMISS F/B PLT

Docket NOTICE OF HEARING; Notes: NOTICE OF HEARING 09/07/2022 08:30:00 AM

Docket ANSWER & AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES; Notes: F/B DFT PRINCESS YACHTS AMERICA INC

Financial Totals:; total Amount Due: $421.00; total Amount Paid: $421.00; total-Amount Balance: $0.00

Financial Due Date: 07/27/2022; Description: e-Filed SMS PB; Amount Due: $10.00; Amount Paid: $10.00; Amount Balance: $0.00

Financial Due Date: 07/27/2022; Description: 800FF - Circuit Civil General PB; Amount Due: $401.00; Amount Paid: $401.00; Amount Balance: $0.00

Docket PAID $421.00 ON RECEIPT 4551633; Notes: $421.00 4551633 Fully Paid

Docket DIVISION ASSIGNMENT; Notes: AI: Circuit Civil Central - AI (Civil)

Docket SUMMONS ISSUED; Notes: [email protected];[email protected];[email protected] AS TO PRINCESS YACHTS AMERICA INC EFILED

Docket SUMMONS ISSUED; Notes: [email protected];[email protected];[email protected] ISSUED TO H M Y YACHT SALES, INC EFILED

Docket COMPLAINT; Notes: F/B PLT

Docket CIVIL COVER SHEET; Notes

Get Deeper Insights on Court Cases

Latest cases where H M Y YACHT SALES INC is a litigant

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News | Crime

Yacht builder fined £600,000 over accident which left worker seriously injured

A premium yacht builder has been fined more than £600,000 after a worker suffered life-changing injuries at its shipyard, the Health and Safety Executive said.

Mark Gillen, 54, sustained injuries including 12 broken ribs and a severed right arm when a staging platform weighing around one tonne toppled over and fell on top of him at Princess Yachts in Plymouth , Devon .

The father and husband, who had worked for the company for 26 years, also suffered bleeds on the brain and remained in hospital for months.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the platform fell due to one of the front wheels hitting a divot in a concrete surface.

The sad reality is that no fine, no matter how significant, will ever truly reflect the pain and ongoing suffering that Mark and our family has been through

Sarah, Mark Gillen's wife

Mr Gillen had been part of a team working on a 72-foot vessel at the company’s South Yard site when the incident happened on November 9 2021.

The HSE said Princess Yacht Limited of Newport Street Plymouth admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,146 at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Speaking after the case, Mr Gillen’s wife, Sarah, said: “Our worlds were turned upside down the day Mark had the catastrophic crush accident, leaving him with life-changing injuries.

“He simply went to work that morning, and while he was eventually able to come home, our lives will never be the same.

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“We are incredibly lucky to still have him with us but there is no denying that the road to recovery has been, and continues to be, extremely difficult and challenging.”

Mrs Gillen said the family were grateful to the HSE team which had prosecuted Princess Yachts.

She added: “However, the sad reality is that no fine, no matter how significant, will ever truly reflect the pain and ongoing suffering that Mark and our family has been through.”

Mrs Gillen described how her husband had enjoyed weight training, the boxing gym, cycling and playing golf with friends before the incident but now suffers constant chronic nerve pain.

She said the family hoped lessons would be learnt from the case.

Andy Siddall, enforcement lawyer at HSE, told the court how finished mouldings were being moved from the firm’s South Yard site to their premises on Newport Street for fit-out.

Mr Gillen and two colleagues began to push a staging platform but one of the front wheels hit a divot in the concrete surface, causing it to topple and fall on him. He was airlifted to hospital due to the severity of his injuries.

The HSE investigation found a failure to assess the risks associated with moving stage platforms manually through the external yard.

If this had been done, it would have identified the uneven ground as a hazard that required controlling, it said.

The platforms could have been moved externally by forklift trucks rather than manually, the HSE added.

Paul Mannell, inspector for HSE, said: “Mark Gillen is lucky to be alive.

“The company should have had measures in place to ensure that mobile staging was never pushed through the yard by hand.

“As the measures taken post-accident clearly show, it would have been reasonably practicable to have had them in place when Mr Gillen was injured.

“They were implemented immediately after the accident at no cost to the company.

“The failure to have in place a safe system of work resulted in a life-changing injury to a loyal employee who had worked for the company for 26 years.”

Princess Yachts has been contacted for comment.

LATEST NEWS

Trial begins in £1m princess yachts fraud case.

Motorboat & Yachting: The Princess Yachts fraud trial has got underway at Plymouth Crown Court, with former facilities manager Glyn Thompson in the do ck.

Motorboat & Yachting: Trial begins in £1m Princess Yachts fraud case

The former facilities manager of Princess Yachts has gone on trial at Plymouth Crown Court for defrauding the firm out of more than £1million.

Glyn Thompson, 57 of Peverell, is accused of carrying out a complex Princess Yachts fraud plot via a front company called Construction Solutions South West.

He set up the firm with Darren Tallon, 43 of Plympton, who is also on trial for fraud, the Plymouth Herald reports.

The trial, which began last week, is expected to run until January 2016, but Princess Yachts managing director Chris Gates has already taken the stand to give evidence.

He told the court that Mr Thompson was a “very good manipulator” and admitted that the firm did not apply due diligence when signing off on the contracts he recommended.

Mr Thompson was appointed as facilities manager by Princess Yachts in 2009 after his construction business went bust.

Prosecutor Andrew Maitland claimed in his opening statement that the defendant advised Mr Gates to set a maximum spending limit for work on the South Yard of Devonport Dockyard.

However, when sub-contractors supplied a much lower quote for the job, Construction Solutions South West would “pocket the difference”, the court heard.

It is alleged that the company profited by more than £100,000 from two major projects, as well as many smaller deals between 2010 and 2013. In some cases this amounted to a “50% mark-up”, the prosecution added.

The conspiracy was only uncovered when an innocent supplier tipped off Ian Duffin, former Finance Director of Princess Yachts, via e-mail in July 2013, triggering a police investigation.

Mr Duffin, who has also given evidence, told the court: “There was a huge level of trust between the members of the management team. We respected each other.”

Mr Thompson’s assistant Roger Truen and two other men have already pleaded guilty in the ongoing Princess Yachts fraud case. The trial continues.

See article at Motorboat & Yachting

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A Supreme Court decision could come Monday in a case about barring Trump from the 2024 ballot Back to video

Trump is challenging a groundbreaking decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that said he is disqualified from being president again and ineligible for the state’s primary, which is Tuesday.

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Yacht builder fined £600,000 after Plymouth worker suffers life-changing injuries

• West Country
• Friday 1 December 2023 at 4:11pm

A premium yacht builder has been ordered to pay more than £600,000 after a worker suffered life-changing injuries at its shipyard.

Mark Gillen, 54, sustained injuries including 12 broken ribs and a severed right arm when a staging platform weighing around one tonne toppled over and fell on top of him at Princess Yachts in Plymouth, Devon.

The father and husband, who had worked for the company for 26 years, also suffered bleeds on the brain and remained in hospital for months.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the platform fell due to one of the front wheels hitting a divot in a concrete surface.

Mr Gillen had been part of a team working on a 72-foot vessel at the company’s South Yard site when the incident happened on 9 November 2021.

The HSE said Princess Yacht Limited of Newport Street, Plymouth, admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £600,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,146 at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 30 November.

Speaking after the case, Mr Gillen’s wife, Sarah, said: “Our worlds were turned upside down the day Mark had the catastrophic crush accident, leaving him with life-changing injuries.

“He simply went to work that morning, and while he was eventually able to come home, our lives will never be the same.

“We are incredibly lucky to still have him with us but there is no denying that the road to recovery has been, and continues to be, extremely difficult and challenging.”

Mrs Gillen said the family were grateful to the HSE team, which has prosecuted Princess Yachts.

She added: “However, the sad reality is that no fine, no matter how significant, will ever truly reflect the pain and ongoing suffering that Mark and our family has been through.”

Mrs Gillen described how her husband had enjoyed weight training, the boxing gym, cycling and playing golf with friends before the incident but now suffers constant chronic nerve pain.

She said the family hoped lessons would be learnt from the case.

Andy Siddall, enforcement lawyer at HSE, told the court how finished mouldings were being moved from the firm’s South Yard site to their premises on Newport Street for fit-out.

Mr Gillen and two colleagues began to push a staging platform when one of the front wheels hit a divot in the concrete surface, causing it to topple and fall on him. He was airlifted to hospital due to the severity of his injuries.

The HSE investigation found a failure to assess the risks associated with moving stage platforms manually through the external yard.

If this had been done, it would have identified the uneven ground as a hazard that required controlling, it said.

The platforms could have been moved externally by forklift trucks rather than manually, the HSE added.

HSE: 'The failure to have a safe system of work resulted in a life-changing injury'

Paul Mannell, inspector for HSE, said: “Mark Gillen is lucky to be alive.

“The company should have had measures in place to ensure that mobile staging was never pushed through the yard by hand.

“As the measures taken post-accident clearly show, it would have been reasonably practicable to have had them in place when Mr Gillen was injured.

“They were implemented immediately after the accident at no cost to the company.

“The failure to have in place a safe system of work resulted in a life-changing injury to a loyal employee who had worked for the company for 26 years.”

Princess Yachts has been contacted for comment.

Prince Harry loses court challenge over loss of security protection

P rince Harry has lost a court challenge against a British government decision to strip him of taxpayer-funded protection after he quit royal duties.

Harry took legal action against the Home Office after it decided in February 2020 he would no longer be given the “same degree” of protection when in the country.

During a hearing in December, lawyers for Harry argued the decision meant he was “singled out” and treated “less favourably,” British news agency PA Media reported.

According to the news agency, his lawyers also cited a failure to consider the impact on the UK’s reputation of a “successful attack” on Harry, who has lived with his wife Meghan in California since July 2020 following their decision to step aside as senior royals.

But the court ruled that the decision was justified and “not marred by procedural unfairness.”

The Duke of Sussex will appeal, his legal spokesperson said.

“The Duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of RAVEC’s own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with RAVEC’s own written policy,” the spokesperson told CNN, referring to the body that arranges security for the royals.

Following the ruling, a Home Office spokesperson told CNN: “We are pleased that the Court has found in favour of the Government’s position in this case, and we are carefully considering our next steps. It would be inappropriate to comment further.

“The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”

The Duke of Sussex has been vocal about the security of his family, often drawing comparisons between his wife’s treatment to that faced by his mother, Diana. The late Princess of Wales died in 1997 after suffering internal injuries resulting from a high-speed car crash in Paris.

This legal case is one of several lawsuits that Prince Harry has undertaken in the UK.

In May 2023, Harry lost a separate legal challenge seeking the right to pay for his police protection while in the UK.

The ruling was made after the UK’s Home Office argued it was not appropriate for wealthy individuals to buy protective security from specialist police officers.

In January this year, the duke dropped a libel claim he brought against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Mail on Sunday.

Prince Harry sued ANL for libel over a February 2022 story about the Duke’s High Court case against the UK’s Home Office concerning security arrangements when he and his family visit the country.

In December 2023, the High Court in London ruled that Harry was the victim of phone hacking and other means of “unlawful information gathering” by the publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). The judge awarded Harry £140,600 ($177,000) in damages in the ruling.

Harry settled the remaining parts of his phone-hacking case against MGN earlier this month, with his lawyer saying he will receive a “substantial” payout.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/moscow-court-declines-to-hear-an-appeal-by-jailed-wsj-journalist-evan-gershkovich

Moscow court declines to hear an appeal by jailed WSJ journalist Evan Gershkovich

MOSCOW (AP) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared Tuesday in Moscow City Court, seeking release from jail on espionage charges, but it declined to hear his appeal and returned the case to a lower court to deal with unspecified procedural violations.

The decision means Gershkovich, 31, will remain jailed at least until Nov. 30, unless his appeal is heard in the meantime and he is released — an unlikely outcome.

Before the session was closed, Gershkovich appeared in the glass defendants’ cage, smiling at fellow journalists and wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans. He was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.

There was initial confusion about the outcome when the state news agency Tass reported the court had rejected Gershkovich’s appeal, but it later changed its report to say the case was sent to the lower court.

The court proceedings are closed because prosecutors say details of the criminal case are classified. Gershkovich last appeared in court in August when a judge ruled he must stay in jail until the end of November. Tuesday’s hearing stemmed from that decision.

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy made her fourth visit to Gershkovich on Friday, two days after the reporter’s parents appeared at U.N. headquarters and called on world leaders to urge Russia to free him. Tracy said later that Gershkovich “remains strong and is keeping up with the news,” including his parents’ appeal.

WATCH: Wall Street Journal publisher discusses Russia’s charges against Evan Gershkovich

“The plight of U.S. citizens wrongfully detained in Russia remains a top priority for me, my team at the embassy, and the entire U.S. government,” Tracy told reporters outside court.

Russia’s Federal Security Service alleged Gershkovich, “acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.”

Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the U.S. government declared him to be wrongfully detained. Russian authorities haven’t detailed any evidence to support the espionage charges.

He is being held at Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.

Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips after U.S.-Russian tensions soared when Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At least two U.S. citizens arrested in Russia in recent years — including WNBA star Brittney Griner — have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the U.S.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it would consider a swap for Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial. In Russia, espionage trials can last for more than a year.

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