President Donald Trump on Tuesday secured the release of an American teacher imprisoned in Russia since 2021, striking an exchange deal with the Kremlin after the Biden administration repeatedly failed to bring the man home.
Marc Fogel, 63, was arrested at a Russian airport in August 2021 for possessing medical marijuana and sentenced to 14 years in prison. The history teacher from Pennsylvania is now “leaving Russian airspace” and expected to be back on U.S. soil by Tuesday evening, according to White House national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Waltz said in a statement that Trump, along with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and other 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.” He did not say whether the United States released a prisoner in return.
Former president Joe Biden’s administration long claimed it was working to secure Fogel’s release but failed to make progress, even as it struck deals to free other Americans held by Russia. Though Fogel began serving his sentence in June 2022, the Biden administration did not designate him as “wrongfully detained” until late last year, despite multiple calls from lawmakers and Fogel’s family.
Fogel’s lawyers and family had harsh words for Biden’s handling of the case, with attorneys Martin De Luca and Andrew Smith thanking Trump and blasting the Biden team for “bureaucratic inaction,” the New York Times reported. Fogel’s mother told CBS News last year that “I don’t think the [Biden] administration has helped us one bit.”
The Biden administration left Fogel out of a high-profile prisoner swap last summer. The deal, the largest swap since the Cold War, secured the release of 26 individuals, including 3 Americans.
