Griner Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison in Russia

U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, sits inside a defendants' cage before the court's verdict in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, August 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)

KHIMKI, Russia—A Russian court on Thursday sentenced U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years prison on drugs charges, after finding her guilty of narcotics possession and smuggling for bringing cannabis-infused vape cartridges into Russia.

A Russian state prosecutor had requested 9.5 years in prison for Griner, who said in her closing remarks that bringing the cartridges into Russia had been “an honest mistake.”