WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania's U.S. lawmakers are urging the State Department to recognize the plight of a Pittsburgh-area resident who has been sentenced to hard labor in Russia, and they are asking why the administration has not highlighted his case among other detained citizens, including WNBA player Brittney Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
Marc Fogel, an Oakmont resident and Butler native, was sentenced in June to 14 years in a Russian high security penal colony after having been detained in the country for roughly a year. The long-time international educator was arrested at the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow last August for possession of about 20 grams of medical marijuana.
On Tuesday Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Greene, co-led a letter to the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken requesting the nation's top diplomat to "immediately classify Fogel as wrongfully detained and ensure he is included in any negotiations to bring home American prisoners in Russia."
