The ongoing saga of WNBA star-turned Russian-captive Brittney Griner has taken another turn recently, as she had a hearing for the nine-year prison sentence she was dealt recently.
The hearing, which saw the 32-year-old American Gold Medalist appear through a videoconferencing setup from her prison cell, saw her sentence being upheld by the judge overseeing her case.
Even though the outcome wasn’t surprising to her legal team, Griner is now stuck with limited options regarding ways she could potentially avoid serving the entire sentence.
It’s still unclear whether she has any more options that would allow her to get out of the prison sentence. The sentence was handed down to the Phoenix Mercury star after Brittney Griner pled guilty to a drug possession charge.
Still, she insisted that they packed the cannabis cartridges she was charged with having inadvertently.
Griner mentioned that waiting for the sentence is a traumatic experience for her. She mentioned what she received was over the significant amount. Griner received 9 years as her sentence.
At this point, Griner’s best hope for a swift return to the United States may be intervention from President Joe Biden in the form of a prisoner swap. In a statement issued by U.S. National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden said that he aims to bring Americans home by going to extra lengths and efforts.
Hopefully, updates like that will help Griner maintain healthy spirits as she awaits an ending to this nightmare scenario.
