 Doug Sovereign for CBS News, Milwaukee. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced by a Russian court to 16 years in prison there after being convicted of spying. Russia expert Beth Noble. The fact that the verdict was delivered right after the closing arguments is pretty clear proof that the verdict was decided before the trial even happened. But it could be good that the trial was so fast because Evan Gershkovich cannot be swapped for another prisoner.