US teacher jailed in Russia is formally designated as wrongfully detained [Video]

FILE – Lisa Hyland, left, and other family members of Marc Fogel, who has been detained in Russia since August 2021, rally outside the White House for his release, July 15, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File) (Stephanie Scarbrough, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

WASHINGTON – An American schoolteacher arrested in Russia on drug charges more than three years ago has been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained, the State Department said Friday.

Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, is serving a 14-year prison sentence after being arrested in August 2021 at a Russian airport and possessing what his family and supporters said was medically prescribed marijuana.

After Fogel was omitted from a massive prisoner swap last August that resulted in the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan, among others, his family’s lawyers made another push for the Biden administration to secure his freedom, including …

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