CNN
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Two-time basketball Olympics gold medalist Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty to drug-related charges in a Russian court near Moscow, her lawyers confirmed to CNN on Thursday.
Griner, who the US State Department has found wrongfully imprisoned, faces up to 10 years in prison on the charges. Supporters of the Phoenix Mercury player have called for her release over fears she will be used as a political pawn during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Griner’s lawyers expect the court to consider the 31-year-old athlete’s guilty plea and hope for clemency, Alexander Boykov and Maria Blagovolina told journalists on Thursday.
“Taking into account all the circumstances of the case and considering our client’s personality, we believe that the guilty plea should be considered,” Blagovolina said, adding that Griner is a “role model for many people.”
Samples from Griner showed no trace of drugs, Boykov added. “She was clean and tested,” the attorney said.
Griner left the courtroom Thursday without comment to reporters. Her next hearing is scheduled for July 14.
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after Russian officials said they found cannabis oil in her luggage. The basketball star, who plays in the WNBA off-season in Russia, has since been held for drug smuggling. Her trial began last week.
Griner said in court on Thursday that she had no intention of committing a crime, state news agency RIA Novosti reported. Griner had not planned to carry any drugs in her luggage, she said through an interpreter, and it was a result of her hasty packing, the report said.
The decision to plead guilty was made solely by Griner, a source close to her said. But in the past few weeks, Griner, her family, lawyers and experts had discussed this decision extensively. Given the reported 99% conviction rate in Russian criminal cases, Griner was asked to weigh all factors, including a plea that could ultimately result in a shorter sentence.
Some have speculated that Griner could be released and brought back to the US as part of a prisoner swap, as has Trevor Reed, an American veteran who was held in Russia for three years before his release in April.
There is no indication that such a swap is imminent in the Griner case.
Still, before a possible prisoner swap, Griner was expected to be convicted and also admitted his guilt, a senior US official told CNN. Just days before his release, Reed was required to sign a document acknowledging his guilt — something he had resisted for most of his incarceration, the officer said.
“It’s part of the show and the document has no legal force or effect in the United States. It’s practically meaningless,” said Jonathan Franks, spokesman for the Reed family.
Griner’s plea came on the second day of her trial, when a prosecutor accused her of smuggling less than a gram of cannabis oil in her luggage. According to TASS, another state news agency, prosecutors argue that Griner intended to import the drugs into Russia’s territory, packing the banned substances in a backpack and suitcase.
At Thursday’s hearing, a senior US diplomat delivered Griner a letter that US President Joe Biden wrote to her in response to her July 4 letter requesting Biden’s help. The US Embassy in Moscow shared Biden’s letter with Griner during her trial, Chargé d’Affaires Elizabeth Rood said Thursday.
Griner appreciated Biden’s letter “like any citizen of any country would appreciate a personal letter from the president,” Boykov said.
On Wednesday, the White House announced that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to Griner’s wife on the phone. Cherelle Griner was “grateful” for the call, she said in a statement on Wednesday.
“While I will remain concerned and blunt until[Brittney Griner]returns home, I feel confident in knowing that the President read my wife’s letter and took the time to respond to it,” she said. “I know BG will find comfort in knowing she has not been forgotten.”
In the meantime, the U.S. government should “get on with what it’s doing and exhaust every possible measure to bring BG home,” Griners Mercury head coach Vanessa Nygaard told CNN Thursday after her plea.
While the focus must be on getting Griner home safely, Nygaard also cited a perceived double standard regarding “a lack of reporting and the value of women’s sport.”
“The question is would Tom Brady be home?” said the coach. “But Tom Brady wouldn’t be there, right, because he doesn’t have to go to a foreign country to supplement his income from the WNBA.”
A rally Wednesday for Griner, held by the Mercury and the office of U.S. Representative Greg Stanton of Arizona, was “really, really wonderful,” Nygaard said, adding that she was still concerned about Griner’s safety in Russia.
“In her letter (to Biden), she said she was scared,” the coach said. “This is not just a regular American in another country, but a person who represents our country well. She is also a gay woman. She is also a black woman in Russia. And we have to pay attention and help bring them home.”