Russia sentences former US diplomat to 14 years in prison for cannabis possession

From diplomat to English teacher to penal colony

As part of the investigation, Russian police released footage of searches carried out by investigators at the now-closed Moscow school.

The US embassy did not elaborate on Fogel’s case or his diplomatic status, which he may have had because he was a school staff member when he was arrested. The school was previously operated by the US Embassy.

Fogel, who is in his 60s, argued that a doctor recommended cannabis to treat pain after spinal surgery and that he was unaware that medical marijuana was illegal in Russia.

“He insists it was medical marijuana and claims that a doctor prescribed it for him in the United States, which is allegedly corroborated by a medical record entry,” Alexander Khurudzhi, a member of a Moscow human rights committee, told CBS News.

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According to Russian news agency Interfax, Fogel pleaded guilty to smuggling, storing, transporting, manufacturing and processing narcotics and was sentenced to serve his sentence in a maximum-security penal colony.

In addition to Griner, several Americans are incarcerated in Russian prisons and vice versa.

In April, the United States swapped former US Marine Trevor Reed, who had been sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian court for violence, for a Russian pilot who has been in a US prison since 2010.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.