Marc Fogel had traveled readily to and from Russia many times before his fateful last return to the country in August 2021. He had taught history for almost a decade, mostly to the children of diplomats, at the Anglo-American School in Moscow.
But on entering Russia ahead of what he had decided would be his final year teaching at the school, Mr. Fogel was arrested and accused of smuggling drugs — less than an ounce of cannabis that he used to treat chronic back pain. In June 2022, he was sentenced to 14 years in a high-security prison; in Russia, lesser sentences have often been given to convicted murderers.
After lobbying by the U.S. government, Mr. Fogel, now 63, was set free on Tuesday after three-and-a-half years in custody.
He and his wife, Jane, had been global adventurers nearing retirement, having lived in Colombia, Malaysia, Oman, Venezuela and Russia. But like other Americans imprisoned in Russia, like the basketball star Brittney Griner and the journalist Evan Gershkovich, he became a pawn in the power struggles between Moscow and Washington surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Until a year before his arrest, Mr. Fogel, like all the teachers at the Anglo-American School, had diplomatic immunity. But as tensions rose with the United States, Russia stripped the teachers of that protection. In 2022, Russia forced the school to close and confiscated its property.
Eric Rubin, a former American diplomat in Moscow who knows Mr. Fogel and worked on getting him released, said his was “essentially a hostage-taking situation.” He said he suspected that the Russian authorities knew Mr. Fogel would be carrying cannabis vape canisters when he landed at Sheremetyevo Airport near Moscow with his wife, Jane.
