Russian Court Rejects Brittney Griner's Appeal, Upholds 9-Year Prison Sentence

A Russian court judge rejected NBA star Brittney Griner's appeal and upheld the basketball player's nine-year prison sentence.

The NBA player was previously convicted on drug smuggling charges and has since made international headlines due to the complexity of her situation. Ginger's prison sentence will be modified to count the time that she spent in pretrial detention after her Feb. 17 arrest at a Moscow airport.

Brittney Griner Prison Sentence

The judge ruled that each day in pretrial custody counts as 1.5 days toward her prison sentence. However, it was not immediately clear exactly how much time would be reduced from Griner's prison sentence.

The judge's decision came after an appeal hearing on Tuesday in which the defendant, whom the United States considers wrongfully detained, again apologized as she and her attorneys asked the court for a more lenient sentence. The defense team argued that the verdict was unfair and unjustified under Russian law.

The attorneys also urged the court to acquit Griner, calling her prison sentence disproportionate and the previous court ruling wrong in arguing that the defendant had criminal intent. On Tuesday, the NBA star said that she has been defending herself for nearly eight months and argued that people with less severe crimes were given more lenient sentences than her, as per CNN.

Appearing at her hearing via video link from her detention center, Correctional Colony No. 1 located in Novoye Grishino, north of Moscow, Griner said that she was hoping to get her sentence adjusted. She noted how stressful her situation has been and how traumatic it has been for her, arguing that she was not able to communicate with her family.

The defendant's attorneys expressed their disappointment after the hearing, arguing that the verdict "contains numerous defects," adding that they believed the punishment was excessive. United States authorities have tried to secure the release of Griner as well as Paul Whelan, another American who is imprisoned in Russia.

According to Fox News, in a statement, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that they were aware of the results of the hearing and repeated their claims that Griner is wrongfully detained. United States President Joe Biden has been very clear that the NBA athlete should be released immediately, Sullivan said.

Russian Court's Decision

The national security adviser added that in recent weeks, the US government has continued to engage with Russian officials through all available channels and has made all efforts to bring Griner home. Biden also demonstrated that he was willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions if that's what it took to bring the Americans home.

U.S. officials argued that Russia could possibly send Griner back home in a prisoner exchange deal but noted that Russia's failure to respond to the "significant" offer made in June was frustrating.

Griner's attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov released a statement saying that the result of the hearing was unexpected. They said that they were hoping the court of appeal would take the alleged defects into consideration for Griner's sentence, ESPN reported.