A Russian court docket on
Thursday sentenced Brittney Griner, a WNBA basketball star and Houston
native, to 9 years in jail for smuggling unlawful medication into that
nation.
Griner pled responsible to the costs final month and apologized for the incident, calling it an “sincere mistake.”
The ruling is
the newest grim growth in a saga that started in February, when
Russian authorities arrested Griner on the eve of that nation’s
unprovoked invasion into Ukraine.
Griner’s allies stay
hopeful President Joe Biden will safe a prisoner swap for her
launch, very like he did earlier this 12 months with one other Texan,
ex-Marine Trevor Reed.
The notoriously
harsh situations of Russian prisons has added to the diplomatic urgency.
However there are additionally particular issues concerning the remedy of Griner, who
is homosexual, in a rustic recognized for homophobic persecution. Final month,
Biden administration officers provided
to alternate Griner and Paul Whelan, one other American held in Russia for
Viktor Bout, a Russian arms trafficker imprisoned within the U.S.
Griner entered
the nation in February and was arrested for bringing lower than a gram
of hashish oil in vape cartridges into the nation. Griner apologized
throughout Thursday’s previous, saying she unintentionally rushed her packing
to play skilled basketball in Russia and “had no intent to interrupt
Russian regulation.”
Griner was a
star on the Baylor College Girl Bears basketball group from 2009-2013.
She has performed for the Phoenix Mercury for the reason that 2013 draft, but in addition
performed basketball in China and Russia throughout the off seasons.Whereas she resides in Phoenix, a number of Texas congressional delegation
members have remained in shut contact with the State Division over
this matter. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents the Houston
space the place Griner grew up, together with U.S. Rep. Colin Allred — a fellow
Baylor College athlete and member of the Home International Affairs
Committee — are carefully engaged with securing her launch.