Russia - Tycoon's Prison Sentence Is Cut by Two Months - NYTimes.com Russia's Supreme Court on Tuesday reduced by two months the sentence of Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the former oil tycoon and political opponent of President Vladimir V. Putin, but declined to release him immediately as his lawyers had requested in an appeal. Mr. Khodorkovsky, who was convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2005 and money laundering and theft in 2010, is now scheduled for release in August 2014.