Washington D.C. – CNN, December 31, 2024
The family of an American schoolteacher serving a 14-year prison sentence at a hard labor camp in Russia is hopeful for his release after the US government recently designated him as “wrongfully detained,” following a yearslong plea for greater efforts to secure his return.
Marc Fogel, 61, worked for nearly a decade as a history teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, where children of US diplomats were among his students.
He was arrested in August 2021 at an airport in Moscow while returning for the school year, after he was found carrying cannabis. He had traveled into the country with about 17 grams of cannabis, which his family and lawyer said was recommended by a doctor to treat “severe spinal pain.”
In June 2022, he was found guilty in a court just outside of Moscow of committing “large-scale drugs smuggling” – the same court where the trial of detained WNBA player Brittney Griner took place – and given the 14-year sentence at a Russian hard labor camp.
The US State Department said Friday that it had designated Fogel as being wrongfully detained, according to the Associated Press, a classification that allows the government to undertake active diplomatic efforts to secure his release.
