With international talks ongoing concerning a deal to return Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan from imprisonment in Russia, many are also calling for a Western Pennsylvania man to be included.
Butler native and former resident of Oakmont Marc Fogel was sentenced in June to spend the next 14 years under confinement in Russia after an arrest for medical marijuana in Moscow a year ago.
Republican U.S. Senator Pat Toomey and Republican U.S. Representative Mike Kelly were joined by Democratic U.S. Representative Connor Lamb and others in sending a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State calling for the administration to bring Fogel home.
Fogel taught history courses at schools for the children of U.S. diplomats in several countries including Russia for the past 10 years. Fogel is 61-years-old and had a prescription for medical marijuana as a result of chronic back pain.
