Group of Pennsylvania lawmakers urge Secretary Rubio to bring Marc Fogel home from Russia
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A group of Pennsylvania lawmakers are urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to bring Marc Fogel home from Russia.
A bipartisan delegation including Senators Dave McCormick and John Fetterman and a number of Representatives sent a letter to newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday asking that he use "all of the tools at his disposal" to get the Butler County native and Oakmont teacher freed from the Russian penal colony where he's imprisoned.
Sen. McCormick said that he looks forward to working with President Trump and with Secretary Rubio to bring Fogel home. Sen. Fetterman said that working alongside Sen. McCormick is proof that Pennsylvanians are united in bringing Fogel back.
Fogel was detained in Moscow in August 2021 when he was accused of smuggling marijuana into the country. He and his wife flew back to Russia for their 10th and final year of teaching in the country, but he was detained at the airport in Moscow.
His family said he was carrying 17 grams of cannabis for medical reasons to treat chronic back pain and was ultimately sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison. Following his sentence, he ended up being transferred to a hard labor colony.
Fogel was recently designated as "wrongfully detained" by the U.S. government.
Fogel's mother, Malphine, and his sister, Anne, haven't stopped pushing for his release since he was detained in Russia in 2021 for trying to enter the country with medical marijuana prescribed for chronic back pain.
"We have more hope now than we have ever," Malphine Fogel said. "I think God's tired of hearing his name because so many people have prayed for him and are praying, and I think that it really helps."
"We're closer than we ever have been," Anne Fogel said.
