The Russian court upheld the sentence for drug possession. There is a time and a place for this.
A Russian court on Tuesday upheld the nine-year prison sentence given to American basketball starBrittney Griner for drug possession.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and eight-time All-Star center was found guilty of possession of cannabis oil at a Moscow airport.
The court upheld the sentence. The court stated in the ruling that the time she will have to serve in prison will be adjusted with her time in pre-trial confinement. The basketball player will have to serve around eight years in prison for one day in pre-detention.
The Moscow Regional Court hearing was held via video call from a penal colony where she is imprisoned.
Tensions between Moscow and Washington were high just days before Russia sent troops into Ukrainian. She was playing in the U.S. league's offseason when she returned to Russia.
She admitted she had the canisters in her luggage, but said she packed them in haste because she didn't want to offend anyone. She was prescribed cannabis to treat pain, according to her defense team.
The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum and the lawyers argued that it was excessive. The average sentence for defendants in similar cases is five years, with about a third of them granted parole.
The US State Department said before her conviction that she was wrongly held.
Reflecting growing pressure on the administration of President Joe Biden 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 not received a reply from Russia.
Russian diplomats refused to comment on the U.S. proposal and urged Washington to talk about it in private.
Biden met with the player's agent and the wife of the player. Biden sat down with a different person.
The White House said that the president told the families that he would continue to work to bring them home.
In April, the US and Russia swapped prisoners. In exchange for the U.S. releasing Reed, Moscow released Yaroshenko.
Moscow is pushing for the release of other Russians.
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