'He's back': Marc Fogel lands at Pittsburgh airport in quiet homecoming

Marc Fogel is home.

Fogel, 63, landed shortly after 5 p.m. Monday at Pittsburgh International Airport.

“He’s back,” said Allegheny County police spokesman Jim Madalinsky. “We helped escort him through the airport.”

Fogel was released Feb. 11 after three-and-a-half years in captivity.

After a visit to the White House last week, Fogel was taken to San Antonio, Texas, where he was evaluated and participated in a program to reintegrate back into society.

Sasha Phillips, an attorney working with the Fogel family, asked for privacy for Marc and the family during this time, she said in a Tuesday statement.

Phillips didn’t detail where Fogel was staying.

“After an extended period of being held hostage, Marc has finally returned to Pittsburgh, but his journey to recovery is only just beginning,” the statement read. “He has been strongly advised to limit public exposure as he embarks on the slow and challenging process of healing from the harrowing trauma experienced by him and his loved ones.”

It asked that people allow Marc and his family the time and space they need to heal together.

“Marc will do his part by getting better if you can do your part by helping him. While his eventual return to the public eye is anticipated when he is ready, for now, we kindly urge everyone to respect his need for discretion during this vulnerable period,” the statement read.

“Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty I am free at last! All of your support and love was my nourishment the last 3 years and 6 months and I will be forever grateful,” Fogel said in a statement posted Saturday on Phillips’ Facebook page. “I am humbled and overwhelmed by what has been done to secure my release by so many. I am delighted to report I have positively completed the medical phase of the transition protocol done by the State Department.”

Fogel was arrested in August 2021 at a Moscow airport after medically prescribed marijuana was found into Russia. At the time of his detainment, he was set to begin his 10th year teaching at the Anglo-American School.

Fogel was convicted and sentenced to 14 years at a penal colony following a sham trial in 2022.

In the following years, his family lobbied the U.S. government to label him as wrongfully detained. That designation would open up additional resources to him and his family. That didn’t happen until the past six months.

Last week, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff negotiated Fogel’s release.

“The president’s (Donald Trump) policy on Americans that are held abroad is that we leave nobody behind. It’s very similar to the military credo … I think that you’ll see a President who is extraordinarily proactive in seeking all hostages to be released,” Witkoff said in a statement Feb. 12.

Before being flown to Texas for evaluation, Fogel first visited the White House, where he said: “I feel like the luckiest man on Earth right now. I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all. President Trump is a hero, these men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes. The senators and representatives that passed legislation in my honor to get me home are the heroes. I am in awe of what they all did.”

The U.S. and Russia agreed to a prisoner swap involving Marc Fogel in a move the White House said could move forward negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Alexander Vinnik, a convicted Russian criminal, was freed as part of a swap that saw Moscow’s release of Fogel, U.S. officials said Feb. 12.