Russia accuses American teacher of being"large scale" drug smuggler almost half a year after detaining himA screengrab from video released by Russia's Interior Ministry shows U.S. national Marc Fogel sitting in a security screening area at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where he was detained in August 2021 after marijuana was allegedly found in his luggage.
Fogel is charged with smuggling and possession of"narcotic substances on a large scale" — a serious charge for which he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. "He insists that it was medical marijuana and claims that a doctor prescribed it to him in the United States, which is allegedly confirmed by an entry in the medical record," Alexander Khurudzhi, a member of a Moscow human rights committee, told Russia's Interfax news agency at the time. Russia frees U.S. teen held over medical marijuana