Brittney Griner sentenced to nine years in prison following Russia drug trial
thefader.comBasketball player Brittney Griner has been found guilty of smuggling drugs with criminal intent in a Russian court today and sentenced to nine years in prison, CNN reports.
The Phoenix Mercury player was detained near Moscow earlier this year after security discovered a small amount of the drug in her luggage.
Griner is expected to be sentenced later today (August 4). In a statement released shortly after the sentencing was announced, President Biden claimed it is “one more reminder of what the world already knew: Russia is wrongfully detaining Brittney.”He added: “It’s unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately” Statement from President Biden on the sentencing of wrongfully detained american Brittney Griner: pic.twitter.com/WPeeqAseEv— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 4, 2022 Last month it was reported that the United States government had proposed a prisoner swap with Russia that would see Griner return home.
The WNBA player has said during her trial that the cannabis was prescribed for chronic pain and that she brought it into Russia by accident.
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