BUTLER TWP — In her Butler Township home, Malphine Fogel, 94, parses newspaper clippings and articles featuring her son’s name. The headlines, which note his prison sentence in Russia and pleas to bring him back to the United States, are mainly from local newspapers. Malphine Fogel keeps these in a yellow envelope she said she hopes to show him when he returns home.

Monday, Aug. 14, marks two years since her son, Marc Fogel, was detained in a Russian prison after being charged with “large-scale drugs smuggling” by crossing the Russian border, as well as "large-scale illegal storage of drugs without a commercial purpose.” The longtime teacher was charged after he was found on a return trip carrying about half an ounce of medical marijuana which was prescribed for chronic pain caused by a spinal injury.

His Pittsburgh doctors had Fogel’s medical documents translated for Russian officials to no avail, his mother said. In August 2021, Fogel, a world traveler, longtime teacher, outdoorsman, local sports fan and father was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

The charges brought against Fogel are not unlike those brought against professional basketball player Brittney Griner. Unlike Griner, whose release from Russia was secured last winter, the teacher, who worked in international schools around the world and had taught for nearly 10 years at the Anglo-American School in Moscow until his imprisonment, has yet to be designated as “wrongfully detained” by the U.S. State Department.

On July 28, Fogel, who is the father to two adult sons, turned 62 behind bars. As he languishes in a Russian prison, his mother and friends worry for his health.

“He is not well; he has had three failed back operations and had to have a hip replacement due to the back problem,” she said. “I don’t know if they’re treating him for pain or not.”

Malphine said she thinks her son keeps as busy as he can despite the circumstances, hoping there will be a break in the legal case.

“Everybody’s devastated by what’s happening, but nobody seems to know what to do about it,” she said. “I think it’s going to be up to the government to declare him as wrongfully detained, which I think is the next step in doing something. They haven’t done that yet. They did it for Brittney Griner, who was up for almost identical charges on the same articles of law of Russia. And she got out in 10 months.”

Fogel is able to speak with immediate family through the Russian Embassy, his mother said. She noted that her son has a Russian lawyer who visits him once a week and that, lately, he has been able to get some books printed in English. Most of the inmates are Russian, except for a Cuban prisoner Fogel can communicate with in Spanish.

Malphine speaks to him regularly, she said, but he is limited in answering questions. She recounted their phone conversation from Thursday morning: Fogel told her about the lettuce he grew in the 6-by-6-foot garden he is permitted to tend, and how he missed teaching English to fellow inmates as his class was disbanded by prison authorities. Fogel frequently asks about how his favorite sports teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Penguins and Steelers are doing, his mother said.

Malphine said her son told her most of the inmates are much younger than he is. He started a class teaching English to 12 fellow prisoners shortly after his detainment.

“They’re very anxious to have the class,” she said. “They’ll corner him, and they’ll ask him, ‘What is this?’ and ‘How do you say this?’”

“He’s a teacher,” Malphine said. “He loves to teach. I think (the inmates) really appreciated it, until (the authorities) stopped it.”

According to friends and family, Fogel was always happy-go-lucky. He was optimistic, friendly and energetic.

“He was always smiling,” Malphine said. “He had a lot of friends and his friends have been so loyal to him through all of this.”

When Fogel lived in Russia, he and his family would frequently travel to other European cities, including Budapest, she said, and would return to their home in Pittsburgh for the summer and Christmas holidays, she said.

Malphine said Fogel had always been interested in traveling, and in his Italian heritage. In college, Fogel had visited his grandparents’ home in Villa Sant'Angelo, on the Adriatic Coast. He returned to Italy on field trips with his Russian students, where locals called him “Marco.”

While Marc Fogel didn’t travel out of the country as a child, he has taught around the world in places including Malaysia, England, Colombia, Venezuela and Oman. The friendships he made there followed him even as he moved across continents, Malphine said.

While a student teacher in London, Fogel took up a job at a pub called The Hope. He befriended a cabdriver, and one occasion, took his mother on a tour of the city, she said.

Wherever he went, her son made friends quickly, Malphine shared. Many of them have shown their support for the family on the Facebook page, Freedom for Marc Fogel, where colleagues, friends, classmates and parents of former students encourage each other to write to legislators in support of Fogel and have shared their memories of him years after meeting him. On Facebook, Fogel was described as creative and funny and an influential teacher.

“He had a passion for life,” said Jeff Zarnick, his childhood friend of more than 50 years. “He was always optimistic.”

Zarnick, who met Fogel in the third grade at McQuistion Elementary School, said that he was initially surprised when Fogel decided to become a teacher.

“I think he found teachers to be boring, and that’s what made him a good teacher,” Zarnick said. “Any student he talked to was fascinated about how learning could be captivating and fun.”

Fogel vowed to make learning interesting, Zarnick said. He recalled Fogel’s efforts in helping a student who was shy and afraid of public speaking.

“Marc made it his goal to get him out of his shell, and he was successful,” he said. “He changed the lives of many students.”

As Zarnick has been unable to communicate with Fogel since his friend’s imprisonment, the pair hasn’t spoken in two years.

“I’d want to tell him, 'Hey, keep your head up, and remain positive,’” he said. “Everybody’s fighting for him to come home. Don’t ever give up.”

Zarnick said Fogel loved living and teaching abroad, and had nothing but good things to say about each city he traveled to.

“It’s a shame,” he said. “He really loved living in Moscow.”

Since his detainment, friends and family of the Fogels have called, spoken with and written letters to legislators. They have held rallies and gathered for an art show this past April to spread awareness about the case. Nearly each day, new posts appear on the Facebook page, with new comments expressing support for Marc Fogel and his family.

In July, Pennsylvania elected officials and U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly, R-16th and Chris Deluzio, D-17th and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., introduced a bipartisan resolution in both the House and Senate calling for his release.

“We have to hope and pray that somebody hears us and we’ll get him designated as wrongfully detained,” Malphine said.

Many of his friends have expressed concern on Facebook that his case has not made a big a wave in government and media compared to other American prisoners in Russia.

“So many times, I’ve heard (the national press) comment about (Evan Gershkovitch) and (Paul Whelan) and they never mention Marc,” Malphine said. “I don’t know why they never mention Marc.”