Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa (1925-2006) was a Romanian priest and dissident. He served 21 years in prison during the Communist regime

Communist Romania

Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...

. He was first imprisoned in 1948, but his 1978 imprisonment he claimed was harsher. He had criticized Nicolae Ceauşescu

Nicolae Ceausescu

Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...

's repressions and became seen as an "enemy of the state". Reportedly he suffered beatings and harassment in prison. He was released from prison in part due to pressure from supporters like Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

. He spent his years in exile in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

and ultimately settled there permanently.