Freed U.S. student home from Russia

Tobin arrived in New York City on Wednesday afternoon.

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- U.S. student John Tobin arrived in New York City on Wednesday after leaving Russia, days after being released on parole from jail, where he served half of a yearlong sentence on drug charges.

The Fulbright scholar landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and sharply criticized Russian officials soon after touching down.

"It's great to be back in a country where basic human rights are respected and the due process of law is also a respected institution," Tobin said.

Tobin was accompanied by U.S. Embassy officials, his father, John Tobin Sr., and Rep. James Maloney, who represents Tobin's home district in Connecticut and had campaigned for his release, The Associated Press said.

Tobin, 24, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, was charged with marijuana possession outside a nightclub in January. He had been studying political research at a university in Voronezh, south of Moscow, on a prestigious Fulbright scholarship.

Tobin's family has said he was framed on the drug possession charges because he wouldn't work as a spy for the Russian government. Russian authorities accused Tobin of training to be a spy, although they never charged him with espionage.

A Russian court originally sentenced Tobin to three years in jail on the drug charges, but a higher court later reduced the sentence to one year.

John Tobin, left, with his father in Moscow ahead of their departure to the United States.

Answering a few questions in New York before being reunited with his mother and friends, Tobin said the allegations against him were false. He also described his time in jail.

"I spent some time in the dark -- I didn't know what charges were going to be brought against me," he said. "I didn't see anybody for a couple of weeks. I didn't see a lawyer, and I didn't see any investigators."

"I was never terribly afraid for my own physical well-being because that was fairly well looked after," said Tobin, who lost 20 percent of his body weight in prison, according to his father. "I was mostly afraid for my friends and family, too, because I knew that they were at home and they had no idea where I was."

The release of Tobin -- whose case was raised by U.S. President George W. Bush at a June summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin -- put an end to a strain on U.S.-Russian relations over the past six months.