Rep. Ben Cline and Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to designate a former Salem man as being “wrongfully detained” by Russia, a status that would make Charles “Chuck” Zimmerman a political prisoner in American eyes — and would by law escalate U.S. efforts to secure his release.
In a letter the three Virginia lawmakers sent to Rubio late Tuesday afternoon, they ask that “this case be made a priority for the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs so that the U.S. Government can work expeditiously towards his release.”
Zimmerman is a 59-year-old Roanoke Valley native who was apprehended by the Russian navy in June 2025 while sailing his sailboat in international waters in the Black Sea. An electrician, Zimmerman had saved his money to sail from North Carolina to a new job in New Zealand. During a side trip into the Black Sea last summer, a Russian naval vessel forced him to port, where Zimmerman was eventually charged with gun smuggling because he had a pistol and rifle on board for self-defense. A Russian court sentenced him to five years in prison; Russian authorities have denied U.S. Embassy officials access to him in a prison near the war zone in Ukraine. (For more details on Zimmerman’s case, see here.)
Although Zimmerman’s case has not received the attention given to basketball star Brittney Griner when she was held in Russia, it is well-known in national security circles, and all three Virginia lawmakers — Cline, a Republican whose House district includes Salem, and the two Democratic senators — have been in regular contact with State Department officials about his plight. However, this letter to Rubio represents an official attempt to ratchet up their concern.
“We write to elevate the plight and wrongful detention” of Zimmerman, the three lawmakers say in their letter. They describe his arrest as politically inspired and express concern about his treatment. “Chief among our concerns is the denial of consular services, visits, or calls that could substantiate Zimmerman’s health and wellbeing,” the lawmakers write. They say he’s being held in a prison “with a diet that supplements gruel with only one nutritionally dense meal of protein and vegetables per week, and without any confirmed allowance for exercise.”
Experts on Russian policy have told Cardinal News that it’s common practice for Russia to “collect” Americans that they can hold for an eventual trade in a prisoner swap. That’s why an official designation that Zimmerman has been “wrongfully detained” would be significant, because it would meet the legal threshold under American law for a higher level of attention by the State Department.
On Monday, Rubio designated Hamran Hekmati, a Jewish Iranian-American who runs a jewelry business in New York, as being “wrongfully detained” in Iran after being arrested last year while visiting family in Iran. Reuters, in reporting the news about that case, said, “The designation of wrongfully detained means that an American citizen is considered a political hostage whose case is handled by [the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs] and whose release is given high-level diplomatic attention and specialized resources.”
That’s what Cline, Warner and Kaine are asking for in Zimmerman’s case. “We therefore ask that this case be made a priority for the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs so that the U.S. Government can work expeditiously towards his release,” they write.
The nonprofit group Global Reach is representing Zimmerman and his family. In a statement, the group’s chief investigative officer, Kiernan Ramsey, told Cardinal News: “Congressional letters — especially when they are bicameral and bipartisan — are an important signal to the State Department. With Sen. Kaine serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the State Department’s oversight committee, we are hopeful that Sec. Rubio will act quickly to designate Chuck. To date, nobody from the US Embassy has been able to visit or speak with Chuck over 270 days.”
Global Reach also released a statement from Zimmerman’s sister, Robin Stultz of Botetourt County: “I am so grateful to have the support of my congressional delegation. The fact that Rep. Cline and Sens. Warner and Kaine all signed on to one letter is a strong signal of their commitment to Chuck and our family. We hope that Sec. Rubio will move forward in designating Chuck as a wrongful detainee and making his safe return a priority.”