Marc Fogel, a Pennsylvania resident, was given a harsh 14-year sentence in Russia
On the third anniversary of Marc Fogel’s imprisonment, Members of Congress again call to designate him as “wrongfully detained”
Casey reiterated his commitment to bringing Marc Fogel home following prisoner exchange that omitted Fogel earlier this month
The Members: “We ask that you do everything in your power to bring Marc Fogel home. […] Designating Marc as “wrongfully detained” will underscore the political nature of his continued detention by the Russian government and the failure of humanitarian and other efforts thus far to bring about Marc’s release”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) led a bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress in writing to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the Administration to do everything in its power to bring Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel home. Fogel, a Butler County native and Allegheny County resident, is a U.S. citizen and career educator who has been imprisoned by Russia since August 2021 for carrying less than an ounce of medical marijuana, which was legally prescribed to him by his doctor to treat severe medical conditions. Since Marc was not included in the multi-country prisoner swap that released detainees including Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan earlier this month, the Members are pushing the Administration to prioritize Marc’s case and to designate Marc as “wrongfully detained.”
“We write to you with the gravest of concerns regarding the continued detention of Mr. Marc Fogel, a U.S. citizen, native of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and international educator, and ask that you do everything in your power to bring Marc home,” the Members wrote. “Designating Marc as “wrongfully detained” will underscore the political nature of his continued detention by the Russian government and the failure of humanitarian and other efforts thus far to bring about Marc’s release. It will also demonstrate that the U.S. government considers his case to be of equal importance to similar cases […] Finally, it will bring to the family resources, such as a Family Engagement team, that can consistently support and communicate with Marc’s family.”
Senator Casey and the congressional delegation have worked tirelessly to bring Marc Fogel back to his family in Pennsylvania. As news of the multi-country prisoner swap was breaking earlier this month, Senators Casey and Fetterman and Representatives Kelly, Deluzio, and Reschenthaler urged the Administration to prioritize Marc Fogel’s case. At Senator Casey’s urging, the Administration has finally begun to say Marc Fogel’s name. In July 2023, Casey and Congressman Deluzio led their colleagues in introducing a bipartisan concurrent resolution calling for the immediate release of Marc Fogel. The House resolution was cosponsored by all of the representatives who signed this letter. The resolution passed the Senate unanimously in June 2024. Casey spoke on the Senate floor that day to applaud the resolution and call for the administration to bring Marc home. Additionally, Senator Casey has helped the Fogel family set up meetings with other Congressional offices and administration officials to help bring attention to Marc’s case and garner support to bring him home. For years, he has called on the State Department to do everything possible to secure his release. In August 2022, Senator Casey led his Senate colleagues and sent a bipartisan letter to Secretary Blinken urging the State Department to designate Marc Fogel as “wrongfully detained,” one mechanism to give the case a higher level of support from U.S. officials. Members of the Pennsylvania delegation followed up in October of that year urging immediate action by the State Department.
In addition to Senator Casey, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators John Fetterman (D-PA) Jon Tester (D-MT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representatives Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6), Susan Wild (D-PA-7), Summer Lee (D-PA-12), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA-14), Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15), Mike Kelly (R-PA-16), and Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17).
The full text of the letter to the Secretary of State is below and the signed PDF can be found here.
Dear Secretary Blinken:
We write to you with the gravest of concerns regarding the continued detention of Marc Fogel, a U.S. citizen, native of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and international educator, and ask that you do everything in your power to bring Marc home. In furtherance of that goal, we once again urge you to designate Marc as “wrongfully detained.” We also ask that you redouble your efforts to ensure that Marc has access to the medical care and consular services he needs as his health continues to deteriorate.
As you know, on August 14, 2021, Russian authorities detained Marc at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow after they found slightly more than a half ounce of medical marijuana prescribed by his doctor in his luggage. A Russian court later sentenced him to 14 years for drug smuggling, and higher courts rejected his appeals. As of today, three long and torturous years have passed with Marc imprisoned in a penal colony, separated from his family.
While three years have passed since Marc’s arrest, almost two years have passed since we first wrote to you asking that you designate Marc as “wrongfully detained” under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. We appreciate the State Department’s recent decision to focus more on Marc’s case publicly. However, the Department has not provided Marc with the “wrongfully detained” designation, even after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan clarified that the category of “those who are held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world... includes Marc Fogel.”
Circumstances of Marc’s case relevant to the Levinson factors have changed since we last wrote. It has become clearer that diplomatic engagement will be necessary to secure Marc’s release and that Russia hopes to use Marc as a bargaining chip. Additionally, if Marc were a Russian national, he would have received a prison sentence, but for significantly less time. The Russian supreme court’s upholding of Marc’s 14-year sentence is substantially due to Marc’s U.S. passport.
Designating Marc as “wrongfully detained” will underscore the political nature of his continued detention by the Russian government and the failure of humanitarian and other efforts thus far to bring about Marc’s release. It will also demonstrate that the U.S. government considers his case to be of equal importance to similar cases, such as Brittney Griner, who was both designated and brought home to the United States. Finally, it will bring to the family resources, such as a Family Engagement Team, that can consistently support and communicate with Marc’s family.
While efforts to bring about Marc’s release continue, we are urgently concerned about Marc’s declining health. He has lived with chronic pain for decades, having undergone three back surgeries, a spinal fusion, a hip replacement, and two knee surgeries. Without access to the medical marijuana and other specialized treatments necessary to subdue his pain, Marc’s condition has progressively worsened. While in prison, he has spent 101 days in hospitals, including a three-week stay in July. He has received over 300 injections and taken over 1,000 pills, often without knowledge of the reason for his treatment. Partly due to neuropathy in one of his feet, Marc has fallen multiple times. Every fall heightens the risk of a broken hip or other severe injury that he will struggle to recover from in prison. Unsurprisingly, his mental health has declined as well. In a recent call to his family Marc describes himself as being “in a bottomless pit” and “not even a shell of the person that [he] was.”
We know that you have requested consular visits from the U.S. Embassy in Russia to check in on Marc every three months. We also know that Russia denied your most recent request to visit Marc in June. Marc needs more attention and services than younger or healthier prisoners. We urge you to resubmit a request every month to visit Marc and to use your influence to help ensure Russian officials approve those requests. We also urge you to arrange to bring a doctor on those visits to evaluate Marc’s condition and to provide the prison’s medical staff with any specialized medications Marc may require.
Thank you for your swift consideration of these requests. We look forward your response.
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