WNBA Star Griner Sentenced to 9 Years

Inside her metal courtroom cage, a solemn, stone-faced Brittney Griner learned how long she''ll be locked away in Russian prison if the Biden administration can''t broker a deal to secure her release. A Russian judge handed down a harsh nine-year sentence on Thursday, rejecting the WNBA star''s emotional apology and plea for leniency for the "honest mistake" of bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil into the country last February.
Griner was found guilty of drug possession and drug smuggling with criminal intent. The judge fined her 1 million rubles, roughly $16,300 U.S. dollars, in addition to sentencing Griner to just shy of the maximum 10 years that she was eligible to receive.