Brittney Griner Pleads Guilty To Russian Drug Charges

Topline

WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in Russian court on Thursday, Reuters and Russian news agency Tass report, days after the trial began.

WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner arrives to a hearing at the Khimki Court outside Moscow on … [+] July 7, 2022. (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Griner said in court she would plead guilty, “but there was no intent” and she “didn’t want to break the law,” Reuters reported from the courtroom.

If convicted of the charges, Griner faces up to 10 years in prison, though her lawyer, Alexander Boykov, told reporters Griner’s legal team was hoping for the most lenient sentencing possible.

Griner has been detained in Russia since February after vape cartridges containing hashish oil were allegedly found in her bag at a Moscow airport.

A representative for Griner did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.

What To Watch For

Griner said she would give her full testimony at a later hearing, saying she needed “time to prepare.” Griner’s next hearing is scheduled for July 14.

Key Background

Griner, who plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the U.S. and a Russian basketball team during the WNBA’s off-season, wrote a handwritten letter to President Joe Biden on Monday, saying she was “terrified I might be here forever,” according to excerpts of the letter shared by her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas. Biden spoke to Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, on the phone Wednesday, and reassured her “he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible,” according to a readout of the call from the White House. The Griners were supposed to speak over the phone last month for the first time since Griner was detained, but the U.S. embassy did not connect the call.

Tangent

The U.S. has been working on a possible prisoner swap with Russia to secure Griner’s release, though Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters Thursday the “hype” around Griner’s case was impeding prisoner exchange talks. The U.S. and Russia have “a long-established format of discussing these issues and attempts by the American side to pump up the public arena, to create a public hype, are understandable to us but don’t help to resolve the issue in practice,” Ryabkov said, according to a Bloomberg translation.

Surprising Fact

Elizabeth Rood, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, told reporters she had delivered a letter from Biden to Griner in the courtroom, and that Griner had read the letter prior to her plea. The White House said in a statement on Wednesday Biden had read a draft of the letter to Griner’s wife over the phone.