Comatose University of Virginia student in hospital after being detained in North Korea

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Comatose Otto Warmbier lands in U.S. after released by North Korea

Otto Warmbier was serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor in North Korea for alleged anti-state acts.

CINCINNATI, Ohio (KTRK) -- University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier is back in the United States after being detained for more than 17 months in North Korea.

Warmbier landed in Cincinnati Tuesday night. He was carried off the plane and taken to a hospital.

His parents said he's been in a coma for more than a year.

They said "We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime" in North Korea.

A state department official and a source close to the family said the 22-year-old contracted botulism last year and slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years hard labor in 2016 for allegedly committing "hostile acts" against the North Korean regime.

Authorities said they had footage of him trying to steal a banner with a political slogan at his hotel.