WASHINGTON, DC – PA U.S. Senators Dave McCormick and John Fetterman led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to use all the tools at his disposal to bring home PA school teacher Marc Fogel, a western PA resident, who has been wrongfully detained by the Russian government for nearly four years. Both PA Senators and the 11 members of the PA House Delegation signed onto the letter in a strong display of bipartisanship. In August 2021, Fogel was detained by Russian authorities for carrying about half an ounce of medical marijuana in his luggage, which he was prescribed in the U.S. to treat chronic back pain. Marc and his wife were returning to Moscow to teach at the Anglo-American School-Moscow. They had both worked there since 2012. In June 2022, the Russian court system sentenced him to 14 years behind bars. Moscow has rejected the U.S. Department of State’s repeated requests for Marc’s release on humanitarian grounds and his health is deteriorating.
MARC FOGEL