American school teacher Marc Fogel, who has been in prison in Russia since being arrested on drug charges in 2021, has been freed, the White House has announced.
A statement, released by White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, said that Fogel would be back on U.S. soil by Tuesday evening, where he would be reunited by his family, following “an exchange” with Russia.
The statement also highlighted the successful release of American citizens “detained around the world” by the Trump administration.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump and his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff are able to announce that Mr. Witkoff is leaving Russian airspace with Marc Fogel, an American who was detained by Russia,” the statement read.
“President Trump, Steve Witkoff and the President’s advisors 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.”
Fogel was a teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, where many diplomats from the U.S. Embassy send their children.
Fogel was arrested in August 2021, after he was caught traveling with 11 grams of medically prescribed marijuana, according to his family and friends. Eight grams of hash oil was reportedly also found in his luggage.
According to FreeMarcFogel.net, at the time the U.S. State Department told his family “to remain silent.”
“They did. Days became weeks, weeks became months. The Fogels continued to take their lead from the U.S. State Department who said they were doing everything they could to get Marc home,” the website states.
Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in prison in Russia in June 2022.
It was not until was October 20214, when Fogel was determined to be “wrongfully detained” by then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In the time since his detention, Fogel’s family has been outspoken in its criticism of the Biden administration, and accused the former president of “picking winners and losers” and offering “special treatment” to the likes of U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner.
Griner, 34, was arrested at Sheremetyevo Airport in February 2022 for carrying vape cartridges containing marijuana concentrate hashish oil in her luggage and later received a nine year prison sentence.
Fogel’s family said they had been “overshadowed” in the media and with their appeals to the government, by Griner.
