Brittney Griner’s 9-year prison sentence upheld by Russian court

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner holds images while standing in a cage in a courtroom in Khimki, Russia, outside Moscow, on July 27. (Credit: Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTER)

A Russian court on Tuesday upheld U.S basketball star Brittney Griner’s 9-year sentence to a Russian penal colony, following a legal proceeding that a White House official called a “sham.”

Griner was arrested in a Moscow airport in February after airport officials discovered vape canisters and cannabis oil in her luggage. But news of her detainment didn’t break in the United States until March. She pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs into the country. In August, a Russian court sentenced her to nine years in prison. Multiple news outlets reported that Griner’s lawyer had asked for a suspended sentence in Tuesday’s appeal but had said they weren’t expecting any “miracles.”