Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in prison for drug smuggling after he was detained in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in August 2021 with 17 grams of marijuana in his luggage. The marijuana had been medically prescribed in Pennsylvania, where it is legal, said Martin De Luca, a member of Fogel’s legal team.
Witkoff’s plane was on the ground in Moscow for a few hours before leaving with Fogel onboard, flying through central Europe and back to Washington, De Luca told Reuters.
“We are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention, our father, husband, and son, Marc Fogel, is finally coming home,” the Fogel family said in a statement.
“This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal.”
