WASHINGTON — After being wrongfully detained by the Taliban for nearly 900 days, Ryan Corbett is coming home.
The Taliban exchanged Corbett and another American for a Taliban figure imprisoned in California on drug trafficking and terrorism charges.
The deal was finalized as President Joe Biden was leaving office, and Corbett was released Monday night, after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
“Today, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Ryan’s life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives,” the Corbett family said in a statement.
Corbett, his wife and three children had been living in upstate New York.
His father, Drue Corbett, who lives in Louisville, had appealed to dozens of members of Congress for help, including Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville.
The Louisville Democrat and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., were part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers behind resolutions demanding Corbett’s release.
This is one where I think many of the family members were staying up late at night not sleeping in the final days of the administration, wondering is this deal going to come together.”“This is a huge relief,” said McGarvey, who said he talked to Corbett’s father Tuesday morning. “The family is so ecstatic and overjoyed and also so tired. This is one where I think many of the family members were staying up late at night not sleeping in the final days of the administration, wondering is this deal going to come together.”
Ryan Corbett had lived in Afghanistan until the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2021. His family said when he returned the following year to tend to his business there, he was detained and held in a windowless basement cell.
The family thanked both Trump and Biden, the Government of Qatar, many officials and lawmakers.
“While the Corbett family can rest easier today, we must continue to stand for the release of all Americans unjustly imprisoned in Afghanistan,” McConnell said in a statement Tuesday. “Without restoring deterrence and raising the stakes of hostage-taking, innocent Americans will continue to be used as bargaining chips by adversary nations around the world.”
In recent days, Corbett’s wife, Anna, had talked to Biden by phone and met with Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz, pressing for her husband’s release.