Trevor Reed, a former Marine from Texas, has been released from Russian detention.
According to USA Today, Russia and the United States “carried out a dramatic prisoner exchange” on Wednesday.
A senior official said Reed was traded for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a longer prison sentence in America, as the outlet reported.
Reed was arrested in 2019 after Russian authorities claimed he assaulted an officer as he was being driven to a police station after heavy drinking one night.
He was then sentenced to nine years in prison.
President Joe Biden said in a statement, “I heard in the voices of Trevor’s parents how much they’ve worried about his health and missed his presence. And I was delighted to be able to share with them the good news about Trevor’s freedom.”
He added, “I’m grateful for the tireless and dedicated work of Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Sullivan, and many others across our government to ensure that Trevor came home safely.”
According to Biden, the “negotiations that allowed us to bring Trevor home required difficult decisions that I do not take lightly.”
Concluding his statement, Biden added, “His safe return is a testament to the priority my Administration places on bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad. We won’t stop until Paul Whelan and others join Trevor in the loving arms of family and friends.”
Bringing Trevor Reed home…https://t.co/wfYjgdo4Xh
— Jeff Zients (@WHCOS) April 27, 2022
The Reed family issued a statement, saying, “Today, our prayers have been answered and Trevor is safely on his way back to the United States.”
The statement continues, “While we understand the interest in Trevor’s story — and as soon as he’s ready, he’ll tell his own story, we’d respectfully ask for some privacy while we address the myriad of health issues brought on by the squalid conditions he was subjected to in his Russian gulag.”