Brittney Griner found guilty, sentenced to 9 Years in Russian Prison

Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who has been detained in Russia for more than five months, was found guilty of drug charges in a Moscow-area court on Thursday, August 4, 2022.

Griner was found to have criminal intent and guilty of smuggling and storing illegal drugs by the judge and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Griner’s lawyers called the verdict, which was just short of the maximum sentence of ten years, “absolutely unreasonable,” and said they will “certainly file an appeal.”

A Russian judge read Griner’s verdict about an hour after her lawyers and the prosecution finished their closing arguments on Thursday.

The Phoenix Mercury singer delivered an emotional speech in which she reiterated her position that, while she pled guilty to bringing less than 1 gramme of cannabis oil into Russia, she did so “inadvertently” and begged the court for mercy.

The prosecution also requested that Griner be fined 1 million rubles ($16,600).