KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — A judge in Russia convicted American basketball star Brittney Griner of drug possession and smuggling Thursday and sentenced her to nine years in prison. for drug possession and smuggling.
Judge Anna Sotnikova said the time Griner has served in custody since her arrest in February would count toward the sentence.
Griner reacted to the sentence with little emotion. She listened to the verdict from the defendant’s cage, a blank stare on her face.
While recapping the evidence and giving her findings Thursday, the judge said the 31-year-old Griner illegally brought drugs into Russia.
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, right, enters a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP)
Before the unusually quick verdict was announced,…
