Topline A Russian court on Thursday sentenced WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling, after Russia made a “bad faith” response to a U.S. offer for a prisoner swap, according to the White House. WNBA star Brittney Griner is escorted in a court room prior to a hearing, in Khimki just outside … [+] Moscow. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Key Facts Griner also has to pay a fine of one million rubles. The Russian court argued Griner carried out the crime “deliberately,” in its ruling, according to Reuters. During closing arguments, Griner said she wanted to “apologize” to her teammates, her club, fans and her family for the “mistake that I made,” adding she never meant to break any laws or put the Russian population “in jeopardy.” The ruling comes a week after Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to accept a deal to swap Griner and Paul Whelan, an American detained in Russia on espionage charges, in exchange for Russian weapons dealer Viktor Bout, a deal Russia has reportedly tried to amend to include a former colonel from Russia’s domestic spy agency convicted of mur… Click below to read the full story from Forbes
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