A U.S. Navy veteran who was held in Russia for nearly a year but whose detention was not made public was released from Russian custody Thursday after months of negotiations led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a family representative told CNN. News News .ro.

Taylor Dudley, 35, of Lansing, Michigan, was detained by Russian border police in April 2022 after crossing from Poland to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave located between Poland and Lithuania. He was in Poland at a music festival and it is unclear why he crossed the border.

Dudley’s detention, which the US government did not consider “unjust” or based on arbitrary and discriminatory motives, was not made public until Thursday because his family wanted the release negotiations to remain private.

The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, a nonprofit founded by Bill Richardson, led the negotiations, family spokesman Jonathan Franks told CNN. The former governor and diplomat has long worked to free Americans held abroad, and his center also played a role in securing the release last spring of Trevor Reed, a U.S. citizen and former Marine who was illegally detained in Russia.

The Steve Menzies Global Fund and the US Embassy also helped secure Taylor Dudley’s release, a family spokesman said.

“On Thursday morning, Russian authorities released US citizen Taylor Dudley, a 35-year-old US Navy veteran, and handed him over the Polish border to Governor Bill Richardson, his team and a representative of the US Embassy in Warsaw. The Richardson Center has been working diligently and quietly for over 6 months with significant support from the Steve Menzies Global Fund, Hostage US and the James Foley Foundation. The family will be eternally grateful,” a family representative said.

“The past 9 months have been difficult for the family, who are asking the media to respect their privacy and give them the space they need to welcome Taylor home,” he added.

In a separate statement to CNN, Bill Richardson said Dudley was released Thursday at the Russian-Polish border in Bagrationovsk-Bezledy after nearly a year of negotiations. He also acknowledged the involvement of the State Department and the American embassies in Moscow and Warsaw in the release of Dudley.

“It’s great to see that after six months of hard work, Taylor Dudley’s release has come to pass. We’ve been working hard in Moscow and Kaliningrad and first raised this issue during our meetings with Russian officials regarding Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed,” Bill Richardson told CNN.

Several US citizens are still being held in Russia, including former US Marine Paul Whelan, who is believed to be a political prisoner. He was arrested in Russia in December 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage. In 2022, the US offered to exchange Whelan and American basketball star Brittney Griner for US-imprisoned arms dealer Victor Booth, but Russia agreed to release only Griner. Washington has said it will continue efforts to free Whelan.