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Russian Appeal Court Upholds Brittney Griner’s Sentence, She’ll Now Begin Serving Nine-Year Sentence At Prison Colony

After Russian customs officials found vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in basketball star Brittney Griner’s luggage this past February, she was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

This has led to Griner becoming a valuable asset for the Russians, who are trying to exchange her for arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who is imprisoned in the U.S., in a prisoner swap.

Griner then pleaded guilty to bringing hashish oil into Russia, letting the judge know that she had done so inadvertently while asking the court for mercy. The WNBA star however was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Insiders believe that the guilty plea was a strategy to help facilitate a prisoner swap, something the U.S. have been working on ever since – so far without success.

Griner has now been in a Russian prison for almost 250 days, and according to her lawyer, she’s ‘increasingly anxious’ about her chances of being freed in a prisoner swap, which has led to major emotional struggles.

Yesterday, Griner’s sentence was uphold in a Russian appeal court, leaving Griner fully depended on the outcome of talks between the United States and Russia on a potential prisoner swap.

After yesterday’s ruling, Griner now will soon begin serving a nine-year sentence at a prison colony.