An American school teacher held in Russia for over three years has been released, the White House said Tuesday. Marc Fogel, who was arrested for having medical marijuana in 2021, is expected to be back on U.S. soil by the end of the day.
His release comes as part of negotiations between America and Russia to secure an end to the war in Ukraine, the White House said. Fogel left Russia with President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
Fogel, 63, was sentenced in 2022 to a 14-year sentence in a Russian penal colony after being convicted of drug smuggling.
Here’s what to know about Fogel and his arrest in Russia:
Who is Marc Fogel?
Fogel grew up in Butler, Pennsylvania. He attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania and went on to teach history courses at international schools attended by children of U.S. diplomats. The work brought Fogel and his family across the globe. He had teaching positions in Colombia, Malaysia, Oman, Venezuela and Russia.
Starting in 2012, Marc Fogel and his wife, Jane, taught at the Anglo-American School in Moscow. In the summer of 2021, Fogel told his wife that he would retire after one more year teaching in the Russian capital, according to The Washington Post. It was upon their return to Moscow from a summer vacation that Fogel was detained.
Why was Marc Fogel arrested?
On Aug. 14, 2021, Fogel was taken into custody at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport on a cannabis possession charge. Fogel and his family have said the cannabis was used to treat his chronic back pain.
His case has drawn comparisons to that of WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner, who was arrested in February 2022 at a Russian airport for possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine years at a labor camp. In December of the same year, she was released in a prisoner exchange.
Fogel was declared wrongfully detained by the State Department under former President Joe Biden in December. Fogel’s family and lawmakers petitioning to free Fogel from Russian custody were frustrated that he wasn’t considered wrongfully detained sooner.
“I don’t think the (Biden) administration has helped us one bit,” Fogel’s mother, Malphine Fogel, told CBS Pittsburgh in July 2024.
Efforts to bring Fogel home
Fogel’s family petitioned the U.S. government to free the longtime teacher and was critical of the Biden administration and State Department’s response in recent years.
Malphine Fogel filed a lawsuit against then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the U.S. Department of State in July for not designating Fogel as wrongfully detained, reported local television station WTAE.
The effort to free Fogel was also taken up by lawmakers, especially Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly. Kelly and a group of bipartisan lawmakers in December 2023 wrote a letter to Blinken urging the government to classify Fogel as wrongfully detained, saying he met at least six of the 11 established criteria for the classification.
Kelly and Pennsylvania representatives Chris Deluzio and Brendan Boyle also introduced the Marc Fogel Act, which would have required the State Department to submit documents and communication to Congress about how it determines whether a U.S. citizen is being held wrongfully.
Fogel family ‘relieved’ after news of release
“We are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention, our father, husband, and son, Marc Fogel, is finally coming home,” the Fogel family said in a statement to Reuters.
“This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal,” the family said.
What has the Trump administration said about Fogel’s arrest?
In a statement announcing Fogel’s release, White House national security advisor Michael Waltz said the president’s advisers “negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine.”
“By tonight, Marc Fogel will be on American soil and reunited with his family and loved ones thanks to President Trump’s leadership,” Waltz said Tuesday.
Malphine Fogel told The New York Post in July 2024 that then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promised to bring her son home when they spoke just before Trump took the stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and was wounded in an assassination attempt.
Malphine Fogel was set to take the stage with Trump before shots rang out that day, she told CBS News.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY; Reuters
