World Former US Marine Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage charges in Russia, gets 16-year prison sentence June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 Kim Hjelmgaard and Deirdre Shesgreen, USA TODAY Comments Off on Former US Marine Paul Whelan, convicted of espionage charges in Russia, gets 16-year prison sentence Paul Whelan denies espionage charges and claims he was set up in a sting operation orchestrated by Russia's intelligence services.