Brittney Griner trial: WNBA star found guilty and sentenced to nine years

WNBA star Brittney Griner was found guilty on Thursday of smuggling drugs into Russia and was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony.

Griner, a superstar in women’s basketball, has been detained in Russia since February. Officials in Russia said a verdict in her case was necessary before a prisoner exchange could be carried out.

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Earlier Thursday, prosecutors asked a judge to sentence Griner to more than nine years in prison on drug charges coupled with a $16,300 fine.

During closing arguments, defense lawyer Alexander Boikov told the judge that Griner should be acquitted of the charges despite her guilty plea because prosecutors had failed to prove criminal intent. He also argued that Griner’s rights were breached during her arrest, investigation, and trial.

Brittney Griner
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted from a court room after her last words, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022.

Griner’s case has taken on international importance, and her fate is tied to icy U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations as well as the release of other Americans detained in the country. That includes a man who was convicted of espionage, a schoolteacher arrested following a domestic dispute involving her Russian partner, and another teacher who was sentenced in June to 14 years for bringing in marijuana to treat a documented medical condition.

Griner tucked in multiple vape canisters containing cannabis oil into her suitcase during a trip to Russia. The two-time Olympic gold medalist and Phoenix Mercury star was detained on Feb. 17 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. She told authorities she had a doctor’s prescription for medical cannabis, but because Russia does not allow cannabis of any kind, she was arrested and charged. Following her detention, Griner was tested for drugs and was clean, her lawyers said.

Griner testified she uses cannabis oil in the U.S. for chronic pain but knew that carrying cannabis to Russia was illegal.

Griner pleaded guilty and acknowledged possessing the canisters but maintained she had no criminal intent and said she packed them in a rush for her trip to Russia to play for the UMMC Ekaterinburg basketball team during the WNBA’s offseason. Despite her guilty plea, made in part to secure a lighter sentence, Russia’s judicial system called for the trial to continue.

Prosecutors argued that the 0.72 grams of cannabis found in Griner’s luggage were a “significant amount.”

The prosecution’s star witness was a state narcotics expert who analyzed the cannabis found inside Griner’s luggage. However, the defense team challenged the expert’s findings, arguing it was flawed and didn’t conform to rules.

At trial, Griner stayed inside a metal defendant’s cage, which is customary in Russian courtrooms, and at different times held up photos, including one of fellow WNBA players wearing her name and No. 42 on their uniforms in tribute during the All-Star Game in Chicago.

On Wednesday, a top coach for U.S. women’s professional basketball who once represented Russia at the Olympics pleaded with Russian President Vladimir Putin to “do the right thing” and let Griner go, Reuters reported.

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Las Vegas Aces health coach Becky Hammon told the media outlet that it was tough to see a member of the women’s basketball community locked away like a common criminal for the better part of a year and said Griner’s detainment is wrong.

The case has put the spotlight on U.S.-Russia relations, which have hit all-time post-Cold War lows following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. The State Department said Griner has been wrongfully detained, and her supporters argued she is being used as a political pawn.

U.S. officials have been under pressure from Griner’s family, lawmakers, and professional athletes to bring her home, possibly as part of a prisoner swap.

Last week, the U.S. proposed an exchange that called for the release of Griner and Paul Whelan, an American convicted of espionage. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Moscow made a “bad faith” counteroffer that America would not consider.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the U.S. of “megaphone diplomacy” and said the move would harm negotiations from moving forward.

Also last week, former President Donald Trump inserted himself into the controversy, calling Griner “spoiled” and saying he did not approve of the Biden administration’s proposed plan to exchange Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a weapons trafficker imprisoned in the U.S. Trump, who made the comments during an appearance on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show podcast, said Griner should take personal responsibility for her actions and claimed she traveled to Russia “loaded up with drugs.”

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“We’re supposed to get her out for an absolute killer and one of the biggest arms deals in the world,” Trump said. “Killed many Americans, killed many people. And he’s going to get a free card, and we’re going to get her. He’s absolutely one of the worst in the world, and he’s going to be given his freedom because a potentially spoiled person goes into Russia loaded up with drugs. She knew you don’t go in there loaded up with drugs, and she admitted it. I assume she admitted it without too much force because it is what it is, and it certainly doesn’t seem like a very good trade, does it?”

Bout, dubbed the “Merchant of Death” because of his rapid rise to the top of international arms trafficking, is a former Soviet military officer who worked for the KGB in Angola. Former Attorney General Eric Holder called Bout “one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers.” Bout has armed human rights abusers in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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