Sen. Casey: Marc Fogel is wrongfully detained; leaving him in Russia is 'heartbreaking'

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey called the Russian imprisonment of Oakmont teacher Marc Fogel “an outrage” and said he is worried about Fogel’s health, especially since he was left behind after a multinational prisoner exchange.

“The only way to describe it is heartbreaking,” Casey, D-Scranton, told TribLive this week.

The deal traded 24 prisoners including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Radio Free Europe journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Washington Post columnist Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Fogel, 63, who taught diplomats’ children at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, was arrested in August 2021 and sentenced in 2022 to 14 years for possession of 17 grams of medical marijuana legally dispensed in Pennsylvania. This was the third prisoner exchange that has happened since his arrest.

“It’s an outrage that he has been detained so long and that his health has declined so much and he’s got these chronic health problems,” Casey said Tuesday.

Casey’s tone echoed his comments during an interview with TribLive in his Washington, D.C., office July 24. At that time, Casey called the State Department’s and Biden administration’s silence about Fogel’s case “intolerable” and “unacceptable.”

Today, he looks at the joy surrounding the return of some Americans and contrasts that with the feelings of Fogel’s wife, sons, sisters and mother, Malphine Fogel, 95.

“It’s just a huge disappointment for his family,” Casey said. “And it’s heartbreaking for a lot of people who have been working to get Marc released.”

Casey does see progress in the amount of attention Fogel’s case has received since the prisoner swap. Fogel now is arguably the highest-profile American in Russian custody.

“The day before, there was all kinds of reporting that there was a deal in the works. There were a lot of things we couldn’t confirm,” Casey said. “When I knew it was a likelihood he was not a part of this deal, I went straight to the White House.”

The senator said he pushed the administration to “use every power to prioritize Marc’s case and get him home.”

“I got a commitment from the administration to begin to say his name more,” Casey said.

Fogel’s name has been said publicly and his case discussed openly during news conferences and on television in the past week. A year ago — or even a month ago — that was not the case. Although President Joe Biden has yet to say Fogel’s name in public, he addressed the case when questioned by a reporter after the exchange.

“What we have to do now is to continue to press the administration and press the Russian Federation and get (Fogel) home,” Casey said.

The senator, like Fogel’s family, is concerned about his health. Fogel has a long history of debilitating back, knee, hip and shoulder injuries creating severe pain.

Fogel has reported four hospitalizations since his arrest. In a recorded conversation with family and supporters shared with the Trib on Sunday, he detailed spending 101 days in hospitals, receiving 300 injections and taking more than 1,000 pills. His mental state after news of the exchange seemed depressed.

“(It’s) dark and deep and dangerous and scary. It’s really tough to control it, and I am in that place right now,” Fogel said.

Casey said he was pushing the State Department to get Fogel a counselor visit or independent medical evaluation.

“I think that’s been tried a number of times in the past, but my understanding is that’s been refused,” he said.

The family has advocated for “wrongful detention” designation, in part, because of Fogel’s health needs. Under U.S. Code Section 1741 — the law spelling out the criteria for and services provided to those designated as wrongfully detained — the Secretary of State “shall seek to make available physical health services, mental health services and other support” to “any United States national unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad.”

The Fogel family and legislators believe he qualifies for the designation. U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, has said Fogel meets six of the 11 criteria in the Levinson Act to be considered wrongfully detained.

Casey said July 24 that if the State Department won’t consider Fogel wrongfully detained, “another pathway” has to be found.

But Casey said he believes Fogel meets the criteria.

“My reading of the law is that he should be designated,” he said. “But even as we push for that, I want to make sure in the very short run that he gets the medical care that he needs. “