NewsHerald.com - Jailed in Russia: Local pastor seeks release of cousin (With VIDEO)

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Added 25 Apr 08 from www.newsherald.com

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FORT WALTON BEACH When Mike Thorne thinks about his cousin Phillip Miles, he remembers how the older man taught him to hunt, fish and swim. These days, Miles is in a jail in Moscow, Russia, trying to appeal a three-year sentence handed down Monday by a Russian judge. His wife and three children are far away in South Carolina. They, along with members of his church, are sending up prayers and letters to President Bush asking for intervention. Thorne, pastor of Abundant Life Church in Fort Walton Beach, hopes local people will do the same. “He’s like my big brother, very close,” said Thorne, who has been following his cousin’s story through the news media and family members. “He’s everything to me.” Miles, a church pastor in Conway, S.C., has been in custody since Feb. 3, when he was arrested for having a box of 20 rifle bullets in his luggage. He was bringing them to a friend in Russia who is an avid hunter. He has made numerous trips to Russia through an evangelical group, Thorne said. Airport officials confiscated the ammunition when they screened his bags. It wasn’t until he returned to fly home a week later that he was arrested. “They said, ‘You’re going to be charged with trafficking, you’re a smuggler,’ ” Thorne said. “We’re not talking illegal drugs, marijuana, pornography, whatever. We’re talking about a box of ammunition this big. It fits in your hand.” After taking 60 days to review his case, a judge sentenced Miles for smuggling hunting ammunition into Russia. She accepted that the bullets were for hunting, but said Miles had visited Russia repeatedly and should have informed himself on customs regulations. Thorne got a text message from his mother after the sentencing. “Phillip has been sentenced,” the message said. “I called and she said, ‘Three years’ and I was stunned. Three years. Man, it hurts.” Through his attorney and the State Department, Miles has sent messages to his family that he

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