After the announcement that the United States would be completing a prisoner swap with Russia a Pennsylvania coalition has come out calling for Butler native Marc Fogel to be included.
Thursday morning the U.S. announced a prisoner swap with Russia for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. A coalition of politicians such U.S. Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman, U.S. representatives Mike Kelly and Chris Deluzio have released a joint statement calling for Marc Fogel to be included in the swap.
Fogel has been detained in Russia since August of 2021 and was given a 14-year sentence for possession of medical marijuana for back pain.
In the statement the coalition asks that Fogel be included “as negotiations are ongoing with the Russian Federation, we respectfully request that any potential prisoner swap include Marc Fogel.”
Gershkovich was charged with espionage in March of 2023 and Whalen who was traveling in Russia with a U.S., British, Irish and Canadian citizenship in 2018, was also accused of espionage.
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