Brittney Griner Sentenced To 9 YEARS In Russian Prison Following Drug Smuggling Trial!
04.08.2022 - 21:03
/ perezhilton.com
WNBA star Brittney Griner has been sentenced to nine years behind bars in a Russian prison on charges of smuggling drugs into the country. Wow.
According to The New York Times on Thursday, the judge read the 31-year-old athlete her verdict about an hour after her lawyers and the prosecution presented their closing arguments in the case at a Moscow courthouse. The penalty was just short of the maximum 10-year sentence, which her lawyer called “absolutely unreasonable” and plans to appeal. She has been detained in the country since February 17 after she was accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
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During the closing arguments, the Phoenix Mercury player gave an impassioned speech about her arrest. The basketball player explained she pled guilty to bringing less than 1 gram of cannabis oil into Russia, but that she did so “inadvertently” and asked the court for leniency. She shared in court, via CNN:
President Joe Biden told People that the ruling was “unacceptable,” and his administration is still working on a deal to get Brittney home. He shared:
Paul is another American who has been imprisoned in the country since 2019.
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Despite the US government’s attempts to get Brittney home, Russian prosecutors have been fighting for the harshest sentence possible. In their closing arguments, they asked the judge to sentence Griner to nine years and six months in prison and fine her 1 million rubles (or roughly $16,600), the New York Times reported.
Last week, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, revealed the Biden administration offered Russia a “substantial” deal