Naama's mother, Yaffa Issachar, meets with Putin
Naama's mother, Yaffa Issachar, meets with PutinREUTERS

Naama Issachar, the 26-year-old Israeli-American woman jailed in Russia for drug smuggling, moved closer to securing a presidential pardon – and a release from imprisonment – after the governor of Moscow signed the pardon request Tuesday.

Andrey Yuryevich Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow Oblast, signed Issachar’s pardon request Tuesday morning, after a Russian parole commission recommended granting Issachar a pardon.

With Vorobyov’s signing of the pardon request, the request will now be taken to President Vladimir Putin for final approval.

Putin is expected to grant the pardon, enabling Issachar to leave prison and return to Israel.

Issachar, who was born in Israel but raised in New Jersey until the age of 16, was arrested during a layover in Moscow last April while travelling back to Israel from India.

Police in Moscow arrested Issachar after nine grams of marijuana was found in her luggage.

Issachar was convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison.