October 25, 2017: 09:32am
Two months after she was sentenced to nine years in prison, a Russian court denied her appeal for a shorter sentence.
The Russian court turned down the appeal of the woman.
Attorneys for the two-time U.S. Olympic gold medalist appealed the jury's verdict in August, arguing that she had no criminal intent and that the nine-year sentence was excessive.
The legal process ended after the Moscow Regional Court rejected the appeal.
The court decision was called fair by the Russian state prosecutors.
When she pleaded guilty to drug charges in July, she argued that she had no intention of violating Russian law, which forbids the sale of cannabis products. One month later, she was sentenced for drug possession and smuggler. White House officials had been in talks with Moscow about a potential prisoner swap that would release Griner, as well as former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges. Despite President Joe Biden's pledge to "pursue every possible avenue" to bring them to the US, those talks fell to the wayside. White House official John Kirby shot down a request from Russian officials to include a convicted murderer in the U.S. Relations between the U.S. and Russia have deteriorated since the invasion of Ukraine in February, with Vice President Biden condemning Russian attacks on residential areas and authorizing more than $18 billion in military aid to the country.
In a separate round of negotiations with Moscow officials, Bill Richardson, a former United Nations ambassador, said he believes Russian authorities will release the two men by the end of the year. Richardson said the most likely scenario was a two-for-two prisoner swap.
There was treatment of Russian authorities during initial detaining.
The Russian court sentenced the basketball player to nine years for drug charges.
The former UN Ambassador claims that Russia could release the two men by year's end.
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