Who is Otto Warmbier, the college student held prisoner in North Korea

After serving a year of a 15-year prison sentence for stealing a poster from a hotel in North Korea, American detainee Otto Warmbier was released and returned to his family in the US.

Warmbier has reportedly been in a coma for a year and has been in a state of "unresponsive wakefulness," his doctors said.

For the time being, it is unclear what truly happened during the year Warmbier spent in North Korea — despite North Korea's account that Warmbier contracted botulism and went into a coma after taking a pill to help him sleep.

Here is what we know about the 22-year-old who spent more than a year imprisoned in North Korea:

SEE ALSO: Doctors say the American student imprisoned in North Korea is experiencing 'unresponsive wakefulness' — here’s what that means

During a study-abroad trip to Hong Kong, Otto Warmbier decided to embark on a five-day tour of North Korea on January 2016. He was convicted of stealing a propaganda poster after a one-day trial in court.

Raised in Ohio, Warmbier graduated from high school in 2013 as class salutatorian. He eventually enrolled at the University of Virginia, studying economics and global sustainability.

Source: Cincinnati.com

At the University of Virginia, Warmbier was named an Echols Scholar, an honor awarded to the top 7% of first-year students, according to his LinkedIn page. He also served as alumni chair for the Theta Chi fraternity.

Source: USA Today