MOSCOW, April 7 (Xinhuanet) -- A Moscow court sentenced Russian weapons specialist, Igor Sutyagin, to 15 years in imprisonment on Wednesday for spying for the United States, the Interfax news agency reported.

     Sutyagin was found guilty by a jury on Monday of treason in the form of espionage when he worked at Moscow's respected USA and Canada Institute.

    The jurors accused him of passing classified information on fighter aircraft and nuclear-powered submarines to the British firm, Alternative Futures, alleged to be a US Central Intelligence Agency front.

    Sutyagin denied he was a spy, saying he wrote an analysis based on information that was publicly available.

    The court ruled that the 39-year-old nuclear weapons expert's sentence be counted from the moment of his detention in Obninsk, southern Moscow, on Oct. 29, 1999, when he was charged with selling information on nuclear submarines and missile warning systems to the British company that Russian investigators claim was a CIA cover.

    Sutyagin can appeal to the Russian Supreme Court within 10 days.Enditem