Marc Fogel, the American teacher and former U.S. diplomat who in 2022 was sentenced to prison by a Russian court for “large-scale” cannabis smuggling, has been set free in a deal negotiated by Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy for President Donald Trump, the New York Times reports.
Fogel was arrested in August 2021 after Russian customs officials found about 17 grams of cannabis in his luggage. His release comes about three and a half years into his 14-year sentence.
Fogel was only classified as a wrongly detained American citizen abroad by the Biden Administration late last year, and his legal team said the release was “long overdue.”
“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.” — Fogel family statement, in the report
Witkoff — who is a billionaire New York real estate executive — negotiated the deal in private, according to the report, and following his release, Fogel was flown out of Moscow on Witkoff’s plane.
The release represents a gesture of goodwill between Russia and the United States in the early weeks of the second Trump Administration. It is unclear whether Witkoff spoke with Russian representatives on any other official matters; however, Witkoff’s visit to Moscow is thought to be the first trip by a senior U.S. official since before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
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