Friends of Marc Fogel, detained in Russia, call on White House to take action
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — There is a renewed push to bring a Pittsburgh father and teacher home.
Butler native Marc Fogel remains detained in a Russian prison despite recent calls to free him. The lifelong teacher is now a Russian prisoner.
"If you ever had those characters and people in your life that really defined who you were at a young age, that was that Marc Fogel for me," said Varad Kishore.
That's why Kishore and seven others gathered with signs of support at the White House on Monday. Their goal was to urge the White House to change Fogel's classification to wrongfully detained.
Their teacher found himself accused of drug smuggling last year, arrested at an airport near Moscow for possessing 17 grams of medical marijuana. His family now fears the worst because of his debilitating spinal pain and the fact he's being moved to a hard-labor colony.
Kishore tells me he's not giving up hope.
"Seeing that President (Joe) Biden pardon folks for possession of marijuana, it's sort of becoming more normalized," he said. "And the fact that his friends and family are out here still supporting and fighting, it gives us hope that it is something that we can do and we can support him"
Fogel was handed a 14-year sentence and his appeal was denied. His friends said they want the government to change his status and start including his name in prisoner swap talks.