Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel released from Russian custody
The 63-year-old Butler County native had been wrongfully detained in Russia since 2021.
Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel, who has been wrongfully detained in Russia since 2021, is heading home, the White House said.
“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,” National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said Tuesday.
Waltz added that an “exchange” was made for Fogel’s release and called it “a show of good faith from the Russians,” but did not release details. Fogel was expected to be back on American soil by Tuesday night.
A Butler County native, Fogel, 63, was detained at Russia’s Sheremetyevo Airport after security found him carrying 17 grams of marijuana in his luggage in August 2021. Fogel said he had a doctor’s recommendation for medical marijuana to help treat chronic pain that stemmed from a back injury.
Fogel had been working in Russia since 2012, teaching history at Moscow’s Anglo-American School, to which he was returning at the time of his arrest, The Inquirer previously reported. A longtime educator, Fogel attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania and formerly lived in Oakmont, Allegheny County, with his wife, Jane Fogel.
Russian authorities convicted Fogel of drug smuggling and drug possession in June 2022 and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. In December, the U.S. government determined Fogel was “wrongfully detained,” a legal designation that gives people imprisoned overseas more support from American officials.
That determination was made following a lawsuit last year by Fogel’s mother, Malphine Fogel, against then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the U.S. Department of State. In the suit, she claimed that Fogel had been deprived of necessary assistance without that special legal status and was being treated differently from other Russian-detained Americans, like WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was also jailed on drug charges but later released in a prisoner swap.
In a December 2022 op-ed for The Inquirer following Griner’s release, Fogel’s sister, Lisa Hyland, asked then-President Joe Biden’s administration to bring Fogel home.
“Marc should be at home with his wife, reading a book and sipping a cup of coffee in his retirement, not sitting in a Russian prison,” Hyland wrote.
Malphine Fogel’s lawsuit was later withdrawn. In July, she was slated to appear onstage at Trump’s Butler County rally, but gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ attempted assassination of the then-presidential candidate prevented her from going on, CBS reported. In August, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, whose parents live in Philadelphia, was freed from Russian prison as part of a massive, multicountry prisoner swap following an arrest on espionage charges in the country in 2023.
Lawmakers across the state also joined the effort for Fogel’s release, including former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.), U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.), and U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly (R., Pa.), Chris Deluzio (D., Pa.), and Guy Reschenthaler (R., Pa.). Kelly, who represents the area where Fogel is from, said on social media Tuesday that with the teacher’s return, “our prayers have been answered.”
Fetterman in a social media post called Fogel’s return home “long overdue.” Gov. Josh Shapiro, meanwhile, thanked the White House in a statement for its work on freeing Fogel and said he joined his family and friends in welcoming Fogel back home, “exactly where he belongs.”
U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.), who strongly pushed for Fogel’s return, told The Inquirer that getting the Pennsylvania native a “wrongfully detained” designation was key in bringing him home. McCormick also gave credit to the bipartisan group of individuals who continuously pushed for and promised action on this issue, including Trump, Fetterman, and members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation on Capitol Hill.
”This is one thing we can all agree on,” McCormick said. “We need to bring Americans home, but it takes leadership and focus, and that’s where I give President Trump the credit.”
Staff writer Fallon Roth contributed to this article.