1:08 PM ET

The Russian court set Oct. 25 as the date for the appeal of the American basketball player.

Police said they found cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.

She will be heard by the Moscow region court.

She admitted that she had the canisters in her luggage, but said that she packed them in haste because she didn't know what to do with them. She had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain.

She was arrested in February at a time of increased tensions between Moscow and Washington. She was returning to Russia, where she played in the U.S. league during the summer.

The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum and the lawyers argued that it was excessive. In similar cases, defendants have been sentenced to an average of five years, with about a third of them granted parole.

The US State Department said before her conviction that she was wrongly held.

Reflecting the growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more, the U.S. Secretary of State revealed publicly in July that Washington had made a substantial proposal to get Griner home.

The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to exchange the two men for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer sentenced to 25 years in prison in the U.S.

The White House has yet to receive a response from Russia.

Russian diplomats refused to comment on the U.S. proposal and urged Washington to talk about it in private.