(NewsNation) — The mother of U.S. citizen Travis Leake hopes the Trump administration will turn its attention to his plight after securing the release of American Marc Fogel from Russia this week.
Leake is a military veteran and musician who had been living in Moscow when he was arrested for alleged drug dealing and sentenced to 13 years in a Russian prison. Leake’s family contends he was railroaded by corrupt Russian authorities.
“I’m so thrilled that Marc Fogel got home and thrilled for his family. But now, I want to know when my son’s going to get home,” Leake’s mother, Glenda Garcia, told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas on Wednesday.
The family would like the U.S. government to classify Leake as “wrongly detained,” which would prioritize his case.
“I’ve been through this case backwards and forwards, all 2,000 and some odd pages of it, and he’s not guilty. He was framed,” said Jonathan Franks, spokesperson for the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, who also appeared on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
“His ex-girlfriend got caught dealing drugs and was pretty much told she could get a lighter sentence for giving up a name — bonus for it being an American.”
Franks said the U.S. needs to get tougher on countries that effectively take American hostages.