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American student released from N. Korea in a coma, parents say

by Rebecca Savransky - 06/13/17 11:42 AM ET

The American student released recently from North Korea has reportedly been in a coma for more than a year, according to his parents.

The parents of Otto Warmbier — who had been sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor — said in a statement Tuesday that their son has left North Korea.

“Otto has left North Korea. He is on Medivac flight on his way home. Sadly, he is in a coma and we have been told he has been in that condition since March of 2016. We learned of this only one week ago,” Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement, according to CNN.

{mosads}”We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime in North Korean. We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed Tuesday the student had been released and and was heading back to the U.S.

North Korea’s high court last year sentenced Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia, to 15 years in prison with hard labor after he tearfully said in a videotaped “confession” that he had tried to steal a political banner.

The court held that Warmbier had committed a crime “pursuant to the U.S. government’s hostile policy toward [the North], in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist.”