A Moscow court sentenced WNBA player Brittney Griner to nine years in prison on drug charges, raising the stakes in deadlocked talks between Russia and the U.S. on a possible prisoner exchange involving the basketball star.
“The court found the defendant guilty,” Judge Anna Sotnikov said, before announcing the jail term, according to the Interfax news service. Griner was also fined 1 million rubles ($16,300). Prosecutors had earlier asked the court to imprison her for 9 1/2 years, close to the maximum sentence of 10 years.
The sentence is “unacceptable,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a White House statement. “I call on Russia to release her immediately.”
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