American Marc Fogel was released from a Russian prison this week, after being detained since 2021 on drug charges.
Announcement
In a Tuesday statement obtained by Newsweek, U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz 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. 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.
“Since President Trump’s swearing-in, he has successfully secured the release of Americans detained around the world, and President Trump will continue until all Americans being held are returned to the United States. By tonight, Marc Fogel will be on American soil and reunited with his family and loved ones thanks to President Trump’s leadership.”
AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough/AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough
Who Is Marc Fogel?
Fogel worked as a history teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, where his students included the children of U.S. diplomats, CNN reported.
Fogel, 63, was arrested in Moscow after entering the country with roughly 17 grams of cannabis that his family and lawyer said was prescribed by a doctor in the U.S. to treat chronic pain.
Fogel, who is from Pennsylvania, was convicted of “large-scale drug smuggling” in June 2022 and sentenced to 14 years in the same court outside of Moscow where WNBA star Brittney Griner received a nine-year sentence on drug smuggling charges, CBS News reported.
What To Know
In December 2024, the U.S. State Department announced it had designated Fogel as “wrongfully detained” in Russia.
“The United States has been working to secure Marc Fogel’s release for some time,” the U.S. State Department said in a social media post at the time. “We have long called for his humanitarian release and tried to include him in the August 1 deal but were unable to. The Secretary determined Marc is wrongfully detained in October.”
Fogel Family Response
In a statement to Newsweek, Fogel’s wife, Jane, and two sons, Ethan and Sam, said: “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. Thanks to the unwavering leadership of President Trump, Marc will soon be back on American soil, free where he belongs.
“This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal. We cannot fully express our gratitude to everyone who fought for Marc—our friends, supporters, and the extraordinary legal teams of Martin De Luca, Andrew Smith and Sasha Phillips in the U.S. and EPAM Law in Russia who stood by our loved one and tirelessly fought for his release. For the first time in years, our family can look forward to the future with hope.”
Lisa Hyland, Fogel’s older sister, said she was overwhelmed by the news when reached for comment on Tuesday.
“It is fantastic news,” she told Newsweek. “Words just can’t express how grateful we are that Marc is coming home.”
Hyland, 65, thanked Trump for delivering on the promise he made to her mother when the pair met briefly during a rally in Pennsylvania last July moments before he was shot.
“He told her he was going to bring him home, and it looks like he’s coming home,” she said, noting that hundreds of others, including friends, relatives, attorneys and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also fought for Fogel’s release. “There’s so many people to thank that I don’t want to leave anybody out. But it’s a very big day.”
Hyland said Fogel’s wife and sons were traveling to Washington on Tuesday to reunite him.
“I’m not exactly sure what will happen from there, but I know he’s on his way home and for now, that’s the best possible news in the world,” Hyland told Newsweek. “We’re just trying to get our minds wrapped around it after all this time.”
Malphine Fogel, Fogel’s mother, said she was “completely taken aback” by Tuesday’s development.
“He called me from the airport in Moscow this morning,” Fogel told Newsweek. “I hadn’t heard from him in a while. And he called from the airport and he said, ‘I’m in the airport in Moscow and I’m waiting for a plane to take me to Washington, D.C.’ And it was incredible, just incredible.”
Fogel, 95, thanked Trump for making good on the July vow and securing her son’s release.
“He made a promise and he kept it,” Fogel told Newsweek. “And I give him all the credit in the world because he promised me on three different occasions while we were talking that he would get Marc out and I’m sure that he did it.”
Fogel said she expected to see her son sometime Wednesday, just weeks ahead of her 96th birthday in mid-March. The reunification will help make for the “best birthday” ever, she said.
“I don’t know what his schedule is, but whatever it is, it will be OK,” she said. “I just want to see him, hold him, talk to him. It’s going to be extraordinary.”
Newsweek also obtained a statement from Fogel’s legal team, Martin De Luca, Andrew Smith, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, who said: “Marc Fogel’s release is historic, long overdue, and a testament to the power of strong leadership. After years of bureaucratic inaction including consistent refusals to designate Marc as wrongfully detained, President Trump secured Marc’s release in just a few weeks, wasting no time in taking decisive action to bring Marc home. We are profoundly grateful to President Trump and his team who worked tirelessly to secure Marc’s freedom.”
