A Russian court has set a date for Brittney Griner to appeal her sentence for drug possession.
A Moscow region court set the WNBA star’s trial date for October 25.
Griner, 31, was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage. She was traveling back the the US after playing in Russia during the WNBA’s offseason.
Griner pleaded guilty to a lower Russian court in July. She said the had packed the cartridges in haste, and that she was prescribed the drug for chronic pain in Arizona, where medical marijuana is legal.
Griner was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison in August, as well as a 1million Ruble fine. She had already spent 6 months in a Russian jail before her trial.
Her sentence was just shy of 10 years, the maximum sentence for drug possession. Her lawyers are planning to argue that it is overly harsh and punitive.
According to her lawyers, the average sentence for drug possession in Russia is 5 years, and nearly 1/3 of defendants receive parole.
The Biden administration has been under considerable pressure to bring Griner home, who they have called ‘wrongfully detained.’
‘‘It’s unacceptable, and I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates,’ President Joe Biden stated after her sentence was announced in August.
The President promised he would ‘work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue’ to bring the basketball player home.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the White House had made a ‘substantial proposal’ to bring home Griner, as well as Paul Whelan, a former marine serving 16-year prison sentence for espionage.
The US has reportedly offered to exchange the two American citizens for Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.
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