UPDATE: Butler native Marc Fogel flying home following family’s fight for his freedom
Nearly 1,300 days since he was detained in Russia, Butler’s Marc Fogel is coming home.
Fogel’s release from Russia was announced Tuesday, Feb. 11. The White House said special envoy Steve Witkoff was leaving Russian airspace with Fogel, an American teacher and Butler native who had been detained in Russia for nearly four years upon the announcement.
“We are thrilled to death, and we got the confirmation he’s out of airspace,” Anne Fogel yelled over the phone. “He’s on his way home!”
Fogel’s release is a culmination of efforts to bring awareness to his case and ultimate, release, from his family members, to politicians across western Pennsylvania, to groups advocating for his release.
Fogel’s 96-year-old mother, Malphine, as well as his sister, Anne, have been two of the strongest voices in advocating for his release.
“As I told Marc’s Mom, Mafa, when we spoke in August, we had to do everything possible to get Marc home, and it is a blessing that this day has finally come,” Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., posted Tuesday afternoon on X.
Fogel — who taught history courses at schools attended by children of U.S. diplomats in Colombia, Venezuela, Oman, Malaysia, and, for 10 years, in Russia — was detained at Sheremetyevo Airport in Russia in August, 2021 with around half an ounce of medical marijuana prescribed for chronic back pain. He was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony.
Fogel was designated as “wrongfully detained” in October 2024, following the Fogel family filing a lawsuit against the United States Department of State over their failure to make the designation.
“For years, I have met with the Fogels and have strongly advocated for Marc’s release. He is a Butler County native and Malphine is one of my constituents. Today is a great day for the Fogel family, who will be reunited in Western Pennsylvania once again,” U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, said in a statement.
Calls for Fogel’s release have been both bipartisan and ongoing.
“Marc Fogel’s return home is long overdue — and I know all of Pennsylvania, especially his family, will be welcoming him back with open arms,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said in a statement.
Fogel’s family met with more than 30 elected leaders on both sides of the aisle and even filed a lawsuit against then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the state department for its failure to designate Fogel as “wrongfully detained.”
They watched as the case garnered local and national attention, elected leaders sent letters urging his release and a famous basketball player with a strikingly similar case was released.
Family members and politicians alike drew a comparison between Brittney Griner and Fogel’s case, asking why the teacher from Butler hadn’t been released alongside Griner on Dec. 8, 2022.
The family kept advocating for Fogel as others came home, too. Wall Street Journal writer Evan Gershkovich and others were released in August 2024.
Yet, Fogel had not been included in prisoner swaps between Washington and Moscow up to this point. He wasn’t even designated as “wrongfully detained” until October, news that the family shared in late December.
The designation followed the lawsuit filed against Blinken and the state department for its failure to make the designation. The family has since voluntarily dismissed the suit.
The designation, made officially by Blinken under the Levinson Act, was meant to free up additional resources to secure Fogel’s release. A spokesperson from the State Department said shortly after Christmas that efforts to secure Fogel’s release had been ongoing for months.
Fogel’s family made many efforts to meet with senators and house representatives to discuss his release. Anne Fogel previously said their nephew, Ethan, was able to previously meet with Marco Rubio.
McCormick, a recently elected Republican, pressed the new Secretary of State, Rubio, about prioritizing Fogel’s release, to which Rubio replied that it would be hard to improve relations with Russia without the release of Fogel.
“This is a ridiculous case,” Rubio said at the hearing. “I mean … clearly there was an order given at some level that if you see an American, and you have anything you can charge them with, let’s charge them, and let’s collect these, because we can trade them in the future for something.
Locally, efforts to bring awareness to Fogel’s case have included the creation of the YouTube documentary “Did You Forget Mr. Fogel?” as well as the Butler Art Center & Gallery’s plans to unveil a portrait of Fogel on Feb. 15.
