A Russian court sentenced an American soldier Wednesday to three years and nine months in a penal colony after finding him guilty of theft and threatening to kill his Russian girlfriend, state media reported.

       Prosecutors said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, stole 10,000 rubles ($120) from his girlfriend Alexandra Vashchuk and grabbed her by the neck, which she considered a threat to her life, Interfax reported. The sentencing took place at Vladivostok’s Pervomaisky District Court, in Russia’s far east.