Congressman McCarthy and legislative leaders call for release of Tehachapi native Trevor Reed from Russia

(KERO) — Congressman Kevin McCarthy along with several other legislators are calling for the release of Tehachapi native Trevor Reed from Russia's prison system.

Reed, a former U.S. Marine, was jailed by a Moscow court to nine years in a Russian penal colony in late July, after already spending over a year in detention. He was convicted of assaulting two police officers, but in his trial police presented virtually no evidence Reed had actually done so and repeatedly contradicted their stories.

On Wednesday, Rep. McCarthy spoke with Reed's parents who said it has been a long and hard time to be without their son.

"You really don't know until you're in this situation," said Reed's mother, Paula. "It's not something I would wish on anyone else. It's just really hard being without my son."

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senator John Cornyn, House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul, and Congressman August Pfluger came together Wednesday to discuss the bipartisan bicameral legislation calling for Reed's release.

"Trevor Reed is a Marine who has honorably served his country, and I want to assure his family that he is not forgotten. We will not stop fighting until he has been released from Russia's cruel judicial system and is safely back on American soil," McCarthy tweeted.

Reed graduated from Tehachapi High School in Tehachapi. On March 2, he was transferred to a pre-detention center and his family has not been in contact with him since.