Russian money launderer to be freed in exchange for Marc Fogel

The Trump administration has agreed to send a convicted money launderer back to Russia in exchange for the release of American teacher Mark Fogel, a U.S. official told NBC News on Wednesday.

Alexander Vinnik is in American custody and awaiting transport to Russia, which is expected to happen by the end of the week, the official said.

As part of the deal to free him, Vinnik will leave behind $100 million worth of digital assets in the U.S., the official said.

“We didn’t swap the merchant of death for a basketball player,” The U.S. official said, referring to the 2022 exchange of WNBA star Brittney Griner for arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in a small beachside village in northern Greece and detained at Washington’s request. He was initially extradited to France and later to the U.S.

He pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit money laundering related to his role in operating the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e from 2011 to 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California said in news release at the time.

“BTC-e was one of the primary ways by which cybercriminals around the world transferred, laundered and stored the criminal proceeds of their illegal activities,” the release said.

The exchange “received criminal proceeds of numerous computer intrusions and hacking incidents, ransomware attacks, identity theft schemes, corrupt public officials and narcotics distribution rings,” it said.

Vinnik was facing up to 20 years in prison and had been due to be sentenced in January. But in November, a U.S. federal judge agreed to postpone his sentencing until June in a brief order that did not cite the reason for the delay, according to court records, Reuters reported.

The U.S. official said Vinnik was exchanged for Marc Fogel, who was freed Tuesday after being detained in Russia for 3½ years for a minor medical cannabis infraction.

Fogel, 63, who had been sentenced to 14 years in prison, met with President Donald Trump at the White House on his return to home soil and said he was “in awe” of all of the staff who helped secure his release, calling them heroes.

Fogel had remained in Russian custody as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Griner, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan.

Fogel said that he needed time before he could discuss the conditions of his imprisonment in detail, but that they were difficult.

“There were times when it was extremely trying. There were times when I could manage it,” he said. “Every second, every minute, every day had a challenge.”

U.S. Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that three additional hostages, including one U.S. citizen and a journalist for Radio Liberty, a global news outlet, had been released by Belarus into American custody.

The U.S. did not release any detainees in exchange for the hostages, Boehler said. He did not name the U.S. citizen who was released.

Boehler said the new releases were the continuation of a hostage release agreement that began last month with the release of American Anastassia Nuhfer.