Russia Delivers 9-Year Prison Sentence to US WNBA Star

Russia Delivers 9-Year Prison Sentence to US WNBA Star

Russia Issues DRACONIAN Punishment For US Prisoner – Could Be Locked Up For Good

(ReliableNews.org) – WNBA star Brittney Griner’s trial in Russia recently ended. The American citizen previously pleaded guilty to bringing hashish oil into the country. She claimed she had done so by accident and asked for mercy but received very little when the judge sentenced her.

On August 4, Judge Anna Sotnikova sentenced Griner to nine years in prison and fined the basketball player 1 million rubles ($16,700 USD). The punishment was just a year shy of the 10-year maximum sentence. ESPN reported that defense attorney Maria Blagovolina told reporters she will appeal the verdict and said nothing is off of the table, not even asking Russian President Vladimir Putin for a pardon.

In a statement, President Joe Biden reacted to the sentence, saying she was being “wrongfully detained,” promising to do everything possible to bring her and Paul Whelan, another American locked up in Russia, home.

A day after the judge sentenced Griner, Reuters reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Kremlin is ready to negotiate a prisoner swap. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also confirmed the Biden administration would begin engaging Moscow diplomatically.

According to reports, the US is considering a swap of Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner and Whelan. Bout is a notorious Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year prison sentence,

What do you think about Griner’s sentence?

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