The Trump administration has agreed to free a Russian cyber money launderer in exchange for the release of an American teacher who was detained in Russia for more than three years.
Marc Fogel arrived back in the United States Tuesday night and was greeted by President Donald Trump, who said they gave up “not much” to secure his release. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said an unnamed Russian would be coming back “in the coming days” in exchange for Fogel. A source in the administration confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the Russian is Alexander Vinnik.
“We view this as a very fair deal. We are not trading the Merchant of Death for a basketball player,” the official said, referencing the Biden administration’s swap of notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA player Brittney Griner.
Trump also indicated another American would be freed Wednesday but did not specify who it would be.
Vinnik pleaded guilty last May to conspiracy to commit money laundering related to his role in the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e. From the site’s inception to Vinnik’s arrest in Greece in 2017, BTC-e processed more than $9 billion worth of transactions. He was later extradited to the United States.
He is currently in northern California awaiting transportation back to Russia, the source added.
The Department of Justice said at the time of Vinnik’s guilty plea that the company was “one of the primary ways” cybercriminals transferred, laundered, and stored their profits.
Multiple U.S. officials described Fogel’s release as a positive gesture of goodwill to improve the U.S.-Russia relationship.
Fogel was detained after Russian officials at Sheremetyevo Airport found roughly half an ounce of legally prescribed medical marijuana in his luggage. A Russian court later convicted him of drug trafficking and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, went to Russia to bring Fogel back. On Wednesday, he said that Saudi Arabia played a key role in getting this deal accomplished.
“We are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention, our father, husband, and son, Marc Fogel, is finally coming home,” his family said, according to CBS News. “Thanks to the unwavering leadership of President Trump, Marc will soon be back on American soil, free where he belongs. This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal.”
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The Biden administration agreed to multiple prisoner exchanges with Russia in recent years, but Fogel was excluded from all of them. In those exchanges, the individuals were swapped simultaneously, and their identities were quickly announced.
Last August, the U.S., Russia, and multiple other countries executed a wide-ranging exchange of more than a dozen individuals, including several Americans such as Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Before that, the U.S. agreed to the Griner-Bout swap.
