A court in Russia’s Moscow region has sentenced former US embassy worker Marc Fogel to 14 years in a high-security prison for drug possession and drug smuggling, the court’s press service stated.
According to the investigation, Fogel arrived at Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport from New York in June 2021 with “marijuana and hashish oil” found in his luggage.
“The drugs were carefully disguised: the marijuana was packaged in contact lens packets, and the cannabis oil was found in cartridges for e-cigarettes. All this was wrapped in cling film and hidden inside sneakers,” the Russian police stated.
Until May 2021, Marc Fogel possessed a diplomatic status. After quitting his job at the embassy, he worked as a teacher at an English-language school in Moscow. Police searched the school following Fogel's arrest.
Fogel stated that the marijuana that he brought to Russia was for medical purposes, prescribed to him by a US doctor after a surgery, which is confirmed by his medical documents. The former diplomat was not aware of Russia’s medical marijuana ban.
