“While Marc’s name may not be in the news every day, he is no less deserving of a reunion with his family.”

By Kim Lyons, Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Anne Fogel is tired.

Her brother Marc Fogel, a teacher, was detained in Russia in 2021, for possession of marijuana that had been prescribed for his chronic back pain. In 2022 he was sentenced to serve 14 years hard labor in a Russian penal colony.

When Fogel and her family started hearing late Wednesday that American prisoners in Russia were being moved, they immediately reached out to as many members of Congress as they could, to plead, yet again, for her brother’s release.

It was not to be.

“He learned this…you can imagine, he’s in a Russian prison. He learns this over Russian television that they’re releasing these Americans,” Fogel said in an interview with the Capital-Star on Friday. “And he is…he’s undone.”

Fogel, 63, was not part of the Thursday prisoner swap that freed Americans Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and 14 others, which his family called a “glaring injustice,” placing blame with the U.S. government.

“For the second time in three years since Marc Fogel’s detention in Russia, we are completely heartbroken and outraged that Marc has been left behind while the U.S. government brought other Americans home,” the Fogel family said in a statement Thursday, in which it sent “well wishes” to the Gershkovich and Whelan families.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a briefing with White House reporters Thursday that the administration was “going to build on” Thursday’s prisoner releases, “drawing inspiration and continued courage from it for all those who are held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world.  And that includes Marc Fogel, who we are actively working to get his release from Russia as well.”

Anne Fogel said President Joe Biden (D) has never called her family to talk about Marc’s case, and they don’t have any insights into how things have or have not progressed.

“My mother is a Roman Catholic; so is the president. He’s a Pennsylvania guy,” she said “His wife is a teacher. Marc has worked in these international embassy schools for his whole career. It’s shameful.”

In addition to the physical toll his imprisonment is taking, Anne Fogel worries that her brother’s mental state is deteriorating as well.

Lawmakers push for Fogel’s release

Western Pennsylvania lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Thursday called on the Biden administration to continue to work for Fogel’s release.

U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA), and U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly (R-16th District), Chris Deluzio (D-17th District), and Guy Reschenthaler (R-14th District) released a joint statement early Thursday before details of the prisoner release were known, urging any swap to include Fogel.

But after it became clear Fogel was not among those to be released, Deluzio said he was “frustrated and saddened” by the news.

“The sad reality that Marc Fogel is not headed back to Western Pennsylvania makes this a crushing day for his family, our community, and all who have been in the fight to try and bring him home,” he said.

Biden said in a statement Thursday that he “will not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family,” noting his administration had brought home more than 70 such Americans and that he had “no higher priority as President” than bringing them home.

In brief remarks to reporters on Thursday, Biden was asked about Marc Fogel. “We’re not giving up on—we’re not giving up on that,” he said, but declined to provide further details. “Do you want me to tell you ahead of time so he doesn’t get out?” he added.

The White House referred a request for comment Friday to the National Security Council, which did not immediately reply to the Capital-Star’s questions.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) said Thursday that he has asked the administration over the past several years to prioritize Marc Fogel’s release as it has with other Americans arrested in Russia. “While Marc’s name may not be in the news every day, he is no less deserving of a reunion with his family,” Casey said in a statement. “I have not forgotten about Marc, and I will never give up on bringing him home. I urge everyone who fought to bring Evan and Paul home to now work to do the same for Marc.”

In July 2023, Casey introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for Fogel’s immediate release, which passed the Senate unanimously in June 2024. In August 2022, Casey sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the State Department to designate Fogel as “wrongfully detained,” which would be key to securing his release.

‘Wrongfully detained’ status and why it’s important

A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania’s U.S. House delegation introduced the Marc Fogel Act last year, to amend the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. It would require the State Department to be more transparent about how it designates Americans held prisoner overseas as being “wrongfully detained.”

That designation triggers actions across government agencies that prioritize the release of an American detained abroad, and provides the detained person’s family members with a liaison to the State Department called a family engagement coordinator. The Levinson Act describes the 11 criteria for the designation of “wrongfully detained” status, and Pennsylvania lawmakers have argued that Fogel meets six of the criteria.

“The Fogel family has seen this same administration refuse to designate Marc as ‘wrongfully detained’ under the Levinson Act without a reasonable explanation,” Fogel’s family said Thursday.

Fogel’s mother Malphine, 95, filed a lawsuit against Blinken and the State Department in June, saying it had “actively deterred” the family from pursuing wrongfully detained designation.

Anne Fogel said her mother is determined to continue to push for Marc’s release. Malphine Fogel appealed to former President Donald Trump, but Anne said the family doesn’t see this as a partisan issue, it just wants to find any way it can to bring her brother home.

“She’s 95 but she doesn’t act it,” Anne Fogel said Friday. “My mom is hanging on to see her son. And my sister and I have to do everything possible to make that happen.”

This story was first published by Pennsylvania Capital-Star.

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