SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - As one family celebrates the surprising release of a former Marine vet held prisoner in Russia on Wednesday, another Michigan family is left to wonder what will happen to another U.S. Marine vet from Novi serving a 16-year sentence for espionage in the same county.
"Why do certain Americans get left behind while others are free?" David Whelan, the twin brother of imprisoned Michigander Paul Whelan, asked of WWJ Newsradio 950's Roberta Jasina and Jonathon Carlson Wednesday morning.
Paul Whelan has been behind bars in a Russian prison since 2018 after he was arrested while attending a wedding in-the county. He is accused of being a spy, although Paul has adamantly denied the allegations.
After the Kremlin announced the release of Trevor Reed, a Marine veteran being held in Moscow, on April 27 in exchange for the release of a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving out a prison sentence in Connecticut, David conveyed the tough feelings facing his family as Paul remains behind bars.
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"It's doesn't actually give us any hope," David said of what Reed's release might mean for Paul. "I think the U.S. government has made a confession to the Russian government and it means that we are really starting over again, with some new deals, some new decisions the President has to make and to anguish over."
While David said he is immensely happy for the Reed family, he said he can only hope the same outcome might still be able to happen for themselves.
"Our family has been waiting for years already and it looks like we will be waiting for many more years."
David said he felt the Biden Administration has "ghosted" the family in the past couple of months after initially working closely to try and secure Paul's release.
Within the first year since President Joe Biden was sworn in, David said the family had multiple interactions with the government, to include meetings with families of hostages between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jacob Sullivan.
Meetings that, according to David, became less and less with his family, but more frequent with the Reed family.
"It is disappointing that outreach hasn't continued with us," he said. "I guess no news, means no news, that the U.S. government isn't working on your case unless they are actively interacting with you and that gives us some concern."
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David told WWJ's Roberta Jasina and Jonathon Carlson that his parents, who live in Washtenaw County, are able to speak with Paul every day on the phone and it sounds like he is doing the best he can at the prison camp he is being kept at in Russia.
Members of Congress are faced with House Resolution 336, which is on the floor of the House this week. David hopes lawmakers will vote 'yes' for calling on the Russian Federation to provide evidence or to release Paul.
David said while the family has received tremendous support for Paul's release for multiple lawmakers in Michigan, he is worried the family's efforts will be undermined by the ever-changing hands in the U.S. government.
Efforts made with one congressmember or with one President appears to erase when another person is voted in, David explained.
He fears the happy ending for the Reed family will remain elusive for the Whelan's.
"It's hard to process because you do really want to be happy for the Reeds," David said. "But at the same time my parents are in their 80's, they're living out there in Manchester, and their only contact with Paul is that phone call each day."
David paused as his voice broke.
"And it's hard to imagine that they're not going to see him again."
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