Trump secured the release of Marc Fogel last year – a Pennsylvania teacher who rotted in a Russian prison for three years over a few grams of medical marijuana.
Now Russia is doing it again.
A California man named Robert Mao – a gun enthusiast who ran the Moscow Marathon last October – just got four years in a Russian penal colony for buying rifle accessories at a licensed Moscow store and trying to bring them home.
Americans Detained in Russia: Putin's Hostage Diplomacy Playbook
While in Moscow, Mao visited an official Zenit store on the Arbat Street and bought stocks for a Kalashnikov rifle and a Saiga carbine – accessories for guns he legally owns in the United States.
He packed them in his suitcase at Vnukovo Airport without filing a customs declaration – the same kind of paperwork oversight that has sent dozens of Americans to Russian penal colonies – and was arrested on the spot.
Russia's state media is now claiming Mao "partially admitted guilt."
Of course they are.
This Is What a Trap Looks Like
Charles Zimmerman was a Navy veteran sailing from North Carolina to New Zealand.
Russian naval vessels intercepted him in international waters, forced him to motor 22 hours to Sochi, and then arrested him for the firearm every solo sailor carries at sea.
His sister said it plainly: "This is an obvious set-up to get another American they can trade."
She's right.
Russia has been running this playbook for years – snag an American on a technicality, extract maximum political value, then trade them back for a Russian spy or arms dealer.
Brittney Griner got arrested at a Moscow airport over cannabis oil cartridges and came home in exchange for Viktor Bout, a convicted arms trafficker the U.S. spent years hunting.
Paul Whelan was handed a 16-year sentence on espionage charges he and the U.S. government called completely fabricated – and served six years before Trump's predecessor finally got him out.
Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, got grabbed on a spy charge while reporting a story.
The pattern is clear: Russia builds inventory.
Trump's Russia Prisoner Swap Record – And What Putin Is Counting On
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after Fogel's release that many more Americans remain detained in Russia and that Trump is committed to bringing every one of them home.
That commitment matters.
Putin is not running a court system – he's running a hostage auction.
The State Department has a standing "Do Not Travel" warning to Russia for a reason, and that reason is exactly what happened to Robert Mao: "Russian security services have arrested U.S. citizens on false charges. They have denied them fair treatment and convicted them without credible evidence."
Mao went to Russia to run a marathon and buy gun parts for his collection.
He's now looking at four years in a penal colony, separated from his family, dependent on a U.S. Embassy that Moscow can legally block from even visiting him.
Trump got Marc Fogel out.
He'll need to get Robert Mao out too – and Putin already knows what he's going to ask for.
Sources:
- Greg Norman, "Russia sentences American to 4 years for allegedly trying to take Kalashnikov rifle stocks: report," Fox News, February 17, 2026.
- Reuters, "Russia jails U.S. citizen for trying to leave with a Kalashnikov stock," February 17, 2026.
- The Moscow Times, "U.S. Citizen Sentenced to 4 Years in Russian Prison for Attempted Firearms Smuggling," February 17, 2026.
- Newsmax, "Russia Sentences US Citizen to 4 Years in Jail for Trying to Take Kalashnikov Stocks," February 17, 2026.
- Fox News, "US veteran gets 5 years in Russian prison after authorities reportedly force him to dock with firearm onboard," January 2026.
- NPR, "Trump meets with American teacher Marc Fogel after he was freed from a Russian prison," February 12, 2025.
