Brittney Griner, a US basketball star, was arrested in Russia in 2022 for marijuana possession and later freed in a prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout.

"Brittney Griner was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on February 17, 2022, for possessing a banned substance in Russia."

Brittney Griner was detained in Russia in 2022.

Brittney Griner was released from Russian prison in December 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia.

The U.S. Department of State determined that Brittney Griner was wrongfully detained by the Russian Federation.

Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport for possessing cannabis oil in her luggage, which led to her imprisonment and subsequent exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Brittney Griner played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2015.

Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport for possessing hashish oil, a banned substance in Russia.

Brittney Griner plays for the Phoenix Mercury.

Viktor Bout was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

Brittney Griner was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in Russia.

Brittney Griner is 32 years old.

Brittney Griner was detained in Russia for possessing vape cartridges with cannabis oil.

Brittney Griner faces a potential prison sentence of a decade in Russia for possessing cannabis oil.

The Women's National Basketball Players Association announced its support for Brittney Griner by issuing a plea for U.S. union members to sign a Change.org petition.

Brittney Griner is expected to advocate for the release of Paul Whelan, an American detained in Russia, after her own release from a Russian prison.

Trevor Reed, a US citizen, was released from Russia as part of a prisoner swap deal.

Brittney Griner received support from dozens of organizations, including women's and LGBTQ groups, who pressed President Biden to secure her release from detention in Russia.

Brittney Griner, a US basketball star, was arrested in Russia in 2022 for marijuana possession and later freed in a prisoner swap for arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Title:

Content: Brittney Griner freed from Russian prison in exchange for arms dealer Viktor Bout

The US and Russia have exchanged jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, once nicknamed “the Merchant of Death,” officials said.

The swap was confirmed by US officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations ahead of an expected White House announcement, the Associated Press reports.

Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist whose months-long imprisonment on drug charges brought unprecedented attention to the population of wrongful detainees.

She was arrested in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage - but she maintained it was an honest mistake.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed on Thursday morning they had already spoken by phone with Griner and she is said to have been in good spirits.

In a celebratory tweet, Mr Biden said Griner, a native of Houston, Texas, is on a plane home and is safe.

The Russian foreign ministry said it traded Griner for Russian citizen Viktor Bout, a former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel whom the US Justice Department once described as one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers.

Bout, whose exploits inspired a Hollywood movie, was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons that US officials said were to be used against Americans.

The deal, the second such exchange in eight months with Russia, procured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad.

The dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, however, did not include the release of Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges.

Mr Whelan's family and the US government say the accusations against him are baseless. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison.

Griner pleaded guilty in July, though still faced trial because admitting guilt in Russia’s judicial system does not automatically end a case. She acknowledged in court she possessed the canisters, but said she had no criminal intent and said their presence in her luggage was due to hasty packing.

Her status as an openly gay Black woman, locked up in a country where authorities have been hostile to the LBGTQ community, infused racial and gender dynamics into the picture and made each development a matter of global importance.

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"Brittney Griner was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on February 17, 2022, for possessing a banned substance in Russia."

Title:

Content: - The Washington Times - Friday, July 1, 2022

As pressure mounts on President Biden to take more aggressive action to get Moscow to release jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner, the international chatter increasing points to a prisoner swap for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Russian media and Bout’s lawyer, Steve Zissou, say Russian officials want to secure Bout’s release and that Griner, who has been locked up in Russia since February, could be part of a deal.

“I would be surprised if any American was repatriated without Viktor Bout also being sent home to his family,” Zissou told The Washington Times.

Bout is serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison. He was convicted of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, delivering anti-aircraft missiles, and providing aid to a terrorist organization, charges his lawyer disputes.

Another detained American, former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in Russia on espionage charges in 2018, could also be part of a prisoner swap for Bout.

Mr. Zissou said the deal would likely have to include Bout. The lawyer met last month with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, who said that freeing Bout “was Russia’s number one priority,” according to Mr. Zissou.

Griner, meanwhile, made her first appearance in court on Friday and was accused of possessing “a significant amount of cannabis oil,” which is a banned substance in Russia. She faces likely conviction and a decade in prison when her trial resumes on July 7.

Griner, 31, was arrested at the airport in Moscow on Feb. 17 for allegedly carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil. She was visiting the country to play for a Russian basketball team after the conclusion of the WNBA season.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Griner is being held as a political pawn, The Associated Press reported.

“The facts are that the famous athlete was detained in possession of prohibited medication containing narcotic substances,” Peskov told reporters on Friday. “In view of what I’ve said, it can’t be politically motivated.”

Still, Russia’s desire to free Bout complicates matters for Mr. Biden, who is weathering intense criticism for failing to secure the release of Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Dozens of organizations, including women’s and LGBTQ groups, have pressed Mr. Biden to step up efforts to secure Griner’s release. They called on the president “to make a deal to get Brittney back home to America immediately and safely.”

While Bout’s lawyer disputes the charges against him, Bout was convicted of far more serious crimes than Griner’s drug charge, which could make it difficult for the Biden administration to agree to a swap.

Griner’s high-profile detainment comes at a historically difficult point in the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Russia. Griner was arrested just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine on February 24.

The U.S. has condemned the invasion and responded by providing Ukraine with weapons and other support to defend itself from Mr. Putin’s forces.

With Griner in detention, Russian officials are now intensifying efforts to secure the release of Bout, whose targeting and conviction by the United States has long been viewed as an attack on Russian sovereignty.

Russian media is reporting that a swap for Bout is on the table.

“Currently, talks are underway on exchanging Bout for Griner,” Tass news reported, citing an unnamed Russian source.

Nicknamed the “Merchant of Death,” Bout was convicted in 2011 in a U.S. government sting operation of planning to smuggle arms to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The witnesses hired to portray FARC told Bout the arms would be used to target U.S. military serving in Colombia.

Bout, 55, is about five years from completing his sentence and is in failing health, his lawyer said.

Mr. Zissou said he is trying to elevate the circumstances surrounding his client’s case to improve his appeal as a candidate for a prisoner swap.

The U.S. targeted Bout while he was living in Moscow and retired from running an air transport company that also smuggled arms from one country to another.

The U.S. government paid more than $10 million to criminals as part of the operation to catch Bout.

“Entrapment is exactly what happened,” Mr. Zissou said.

Mr. Zissou said exchanging Griner for Bout is “a no brainer,” because his client will be freed in a few years regardless.

Last week, Russian officials extended Griner’s pretrial detention by six months. With Russia’s acquittal rate in criminal cases at less than 1%, it’s unlikely she will be able to return to the U.S. without a prisoner exchange.

Pressure is also on Mr. Biden to also secure the release of Mr. Whelan, 52, who is serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian prison camp.

“It’s certainly conceivable that a swap for Whelan and Bout gets agreed to, and then at the end of Griner’s trial, if she’s convicted, she just gets pardoned and sent home,” Mr. Zissou said.

In a statement provided to The Times, the State Department declined to provide details about the talks to free Griner.

“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas,” a State Department spokesman said. “The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S. citizen Brittney Griner. The U.S. government will continue to provide appropriate support to Griner and her family. We will continue to press for her release.”

• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.

Copyright © 2022 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

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Brittney Griner was detained in Russia in 2022.

Brittney Griner was released from Russian prison in December 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia.

Title:

Content: Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
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Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude

Brittney Griner Is Ready to Tell Her ‘Unfathomable’ Story in New Memoir

The two-time Olympic gold medalist will finally tell the story of her Russian detainment.

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Ahead of her return to the WNBA, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner has confirmed that she will tell the true story behind her wrongful detainment in Russia. According to The Associated Press, on Tuesday, the eight-time all-star announced that she is working on a memoir about her imprisonment. It is currently scheduled for release in spring 2024.

In February 2022, Griner was stopped in a Moscow airport when the police said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. The WNBA champion was charged with drug smuggling and possession. After a short trial, the basketball star was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison. Just as she was beginning her sentence in a labor camp, in December 2022 the U.S. and Russia conducted a prisoner exchange, with Griner coming home, while convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout was released into Russian custody.

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“That day (in February) was the beginning of an unfathomable period in my life which only now am I ready to share,” Griner said in a statement released by Alfred A. Knopf.

When she was arrested, Griner was headed back to Russia to join UMMC Ekaterinburg, the professional team she played for there. Most top WNBA stars play overseas the rest of the year, as they don’t earn much money competing in the United States.

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“The primary reason I traveled back to Russia for work that day was because I wanted to make my wife, family, and teammates proud,” she said. “After an incredibly challenging 10 months in detainment, I am grateful to have been rescued and to be home. Readers will hear my story and understand why I’m so thankful for the outpouring of support from people across the world.”

The two-time Olympic gold medalist went on to say that she hopes “her book would raise awareness of other Americans detained overseas.” In December 2022, the Baylor alum announced on Instagram that she planned to play during the upcoming season, writing, “I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon.”

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In February, Griner re-signed with the Phoenix Mercury for a one-year deal. She will make her 2023 season debut on the road on Friday, May 19 against the Los Angeles Sparks.

The U.S. Department of State determined that Brittney Griner was wrongfully detained by the Russian Federation.

Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport for possessing cannabis oil in her luggage, which led to her imprisonment and subsequent exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

Brittney Griner played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2015.

Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport for possessing hashish oil, a banned substance in Russia.

Brittney Griner plays for the Phoenix Mercury.

Viktor Bout was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

Brittney Griner was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in Russia.

Title:

Content: Brittney Griner's Russian detention hits 200-day mark

1 minute read

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. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool

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September 5 - Monday marked 200 days since WNBA star Brittney Griner was first detained in a Russian airport.

The Phoenix Mercury center was arrested Feb. 17 with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.

Griner, 31, was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony on Aug. 4 on drug smuggling and possession charges.

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On Monday -- Labor Day in the United States -- the Women's National Basketball Players Association issued a plea on social media for all U.S. union members to sign a Change.org petition in support of Griner.

United States President Joe Biden has said Griner is being "wrongfully detained."

Diplomats for Russia and the U.S. have reportedly discussed a prisoner swap to bring Griner and fellow American Paul Whelan home in exchange for the release of convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, Griner is a seven-time All-Star and two-time Defensive Player of the Year with career averages of 17.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in 254 games.

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Brittney Griner is 32 years old.

Title:

Content: 'What about the Merchant of Death?': Drug-smuggling WNBA star Brittney Griner is heckled about Russian prisoner swap by conservative influencer at DFW airport and asked if she still wants to boycott America

  • Brittney Griner was convicted of drug smuggling in Russia and imprisoned
  • She was released in controversial swap, but reception has not been all positive
  • DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

Brittney Griner has been heckled about a prisoner swap which saw a notorious arms dealer handed over to Russia so she could be freed after smuggling weed into Moscow.

The WNBA star, 32, was confronted by conservative YouTube star Alex Stein at Dallas Fort-Worth Airport Saturday.

Stein said:  'Hey Britt, do you still wanna... do you still wanna boycott America?

'What about the Merchant of Death, Brittney?'

Griner did not appear to respond to the heckling, although a woman in her group could be heard calling Stein a 'weirdo.' He was held back from the controversial star by a male security guard.

Stein's questions referred to Griner's previous assertion that sports players should not have to stand for the national anthem ahead of games. She stopped doing so herself in 2020, following George Floyd's murder, but has since changed her mind and resumed doing so.

The 'Merchant of Death' remark referred to arms dealer Viktor Bout. He was being held in a US jail for stoking some of the world's worst conflicts, but was freed and flown to Russia on a private jet in exchange for Griner's freedom.

Griner (center) could be seen walking through the airport with her Phoenix Mercury team

A conservative influencer heckled WNBA star Brittney Griner at Dallas Airport on Saturday

Griner was busted with weed cartridges at Moscow airport in February 2022, while traveling to Russia to play for a women's basketball team there.

Marijuana is totally-illegal in Russia, with Griner subsequently convicted of drug smuggling in October 2022. She claims she had authorization to take the drug medicinally in her native Arizona.

The sportswoman was arrested just before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, and news of her imprisonment did not emerge until the following month.

Griner was sentenced to spend nine years in a prison colony, but was freed in December after the Biden administration agreed to release Bout.

Her release sparked mixed reactions. Many said she should never have been jailed for carrying a drug she was legally entitled to use at home.

But critics said Griner should have been more cautious and respectful of Russian laws, and that she should have been well aware of the harsh penalties she'd face for breaking statutes there.

The WNBA and the her team - Phoenix Mercury - are reviewing the incident, which occurred as the team travelled home from their latest game in Dallas on Saturday.

Griner had played hours earlier in the WNBA, and the team were heading home on Saturday

Griner is pictured putting her bag through a scanner after she was approached by a sniffer dog at Moscow airport in February 2022

In a statement on Saturday, the league said it was looking into the team's run-in with a 'social media figure' whose 'actions were inappropriate and unfortunate.'

'The safety of Brittney Griner and all WNBA players is our top priority,' the league said, without specifying what exactly happened.

Griner and her supporters had lobbied for charter flights after she returned from detainment in Russia, saying the highly publicized case compromised her and others' safety. The league granted Griner permission to book her own charter flights to road games.

Mercury player Brianna Turner said in a tweet people at the airport followed the team with cameras 'saying wild remarks.'

Griner spent nearly 10 months in a Russian penal colony for drug smuggling last year

She was involved in a high-profile prisoner swap with 'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout (above)

'Excessive harassment,' Turner tweeted. 'Our team nervously huddled in a corner unsure how to move about. We demand better.'

The WNBA has added charter flights for the playoffs this season, but only a handful of back-to-back regular season games were scheduled for such flights.

WNBA teams have flown commercially during the regular season since the league´s inception in 1997. The league typically doesn't allow teams to charter because it could create a competitive advantage for teams who can afford to pay for them.

'Prior to the season, the WNBA worked together with the Phoenix Mercury and BG's team to ensure her safety during her travel, which included charter flights for WNBA games and assigned security personnel with her at all times,' the league's statement reads. 'We remain steadfastly committed to the highest standards of security for players.'

Griner is pictured stepping back onto US soil after arriving at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas

The outside of the IK-2 penal colony in the town of Yavas in Mordovia, where Griner was held

The WNBA players' union issued a statement Saturday, saying the situation at the airport makes it 'quite clear that the matter of charter travel is NOT a 'competitive advantage' issue.'

'What BG and all of her PHX teammates experienced today was a calculated confrontation that left them feeling very unsafe,' the WNBPA statement reads. 'Everyone who was paying attention knew this would happen.'

The Mercury released a statement saying the team will be working with the league on next steps.

'We are committed to our support of BG and advocating for all American hostages abroad,' the team statement reads. 'We will continue our support of marginalized communities and fighting the kind of hate that targeted us today. No one, regardless of identity, should ever fear for their safety.'

Moment Brittney Griner is HECKLED over drug smuggling prisoner swap at Dallas airport

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Brittney Griner was detained in Russia for possessing vape cartridges with cannabis oil.

Brittney Griner faces a potential prison sentence of a decade in Russia for possessing cannabis oil.

The Women's National Basketball Players Association announced its support for Brittney Griner by issuing a plea for U.S. union members to sign a Change.org petition.

Brittney Griner is expected to advocate for the release of Paul Whelan, an American detained in Russia, after her own release from a Russian prison.

Title:

Content: A fair trade? Griner swap for jailed arms dealer raises eyebrows

Washington (AFP) – Brittney Griner's release from a prison ordeal in Russia sparked an outpouring of joy -- but also raised tough questions for Joe Biden: was the US president right to trade a notorious arms dealer for the basketball star jailed on minor drug charges?

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The rival Republican Party quickly attacked Biden whose spokeswoman said he made no apologies for freeing Griner, a 32-year-old Olympic gold medalist and LGBTQ trailblazer who was locked up after being found with small quantities of cannabis oil in vape cartridges.

Bout, the inspiration for the movie "Lord of War" who was accused of arming rebels in some of the world's bloodiest conflicts, was handed 25 years in prison in 2012.

Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, who sentenced him in a federal court in New York, said there was no equivalence between the two cases but welcomed the exchange for Griner.

"I think Viktor Bout has served sufficient time, frankly, for the crimes of which he was convicted," Scheindlin, now in private practice, told AFP.

She said she was required to hand down a minimum sentence she considered excessive because Bout was convicted on terrorism charges.

Bout was detained in Thailand in 2008 in a US sting for allegedly trying to sell arms to Colombia's FARC rebels -- an operation Scheindlin described as Bout having been "roped in."

"He himself wasn't a terrorist. He was a businessman arms dealer. And there are arms dealers in every country including the United States of America."

'One or none'

But Scheindlin said she wished Bout were freed not only for Griner but for Paul Whelan, a former Marine detained in 2018 on espionage accusations.

Although both Whelan and the US government deny the spying allegations, Scheindlin argued that trading him for Bout would have made "a little more sense" given the severity of the charges he faces.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who raised the prisoner swap in rare direct contact with his Russian counterpart in the midst of the Ukraine war, said that Russia treated the two cases differently as it saw Whelan "through the lens of sham espionage charges."

"This was not a choice about which American to bring home. The choice was, in this instance, one or none," Blinken told reporters.

Will Pomeranz, the director of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, said Russia would see a victory in freeing Bout.

"It demonstrates that the Russian state always has the back of their security services and that they will leave no one behind, even as it means long and protracted negotiation," he said.

He said that while Griner's arrest was consistent with Russia's strict drug laws, President Vladimir Putin "clearly had leverage" after Biden publicly put a priority on freeing Griner, whose plight has drawn wide interest in the United States.

Pomeranz expected a difficult task ahead to free Whelan.

"Paul Whelan's best chance to get out of Russia was being part of the Brittney Griner swap," he said.

Incentive to adversaries?

Republican Senator Marco Rubio, while welcoming Griner's release, said the deal showed Putin "how detaining high-profile Americans on relatively minor charges can both distract American officials and cause them to release truly bad individuals who belong behind bars."

Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis, pointing to Bout's record, said Biden should have secured the release of both Whelan and Griner, writing on Twitter, "A US Marine is left behind in another bad deal made by Biden."

But the United States has repeatedly shown a willingness to carry out deals criticized as disproportionate to free citizens in response to public opinion.

Other democracies have made similar decisions: in one of the most striking examples, Israel in 2011 freed more than 1,000 prisoners in exchange for the release of a single soldier, Gilad Shalit, by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The United States has set a government policy of not paying ransoms for its citizens, hoping to avoid incentives for hostage-taking.

In a possible sign of the public mood, an American football player, Micah Parsons, voiced anger on Twitter that the United States "left a Marine" but backtracked and apologized after a deluge of criticism and said he was "extremely happy" for Griner.

Paul Rieckhoff, a veterans advocate and commentator, said that Whelan should be released "full stop" but said Griner was "at unique risk in Russian prison" as a Black and LGBTQ woman.

"When she gets home, I have no doubt she'll be out in front leading the fight for the release of Paul Whelan. And we should all join her."

Trevor Reed, a US citizen, was released from Russia as part of a prisoner swap deal.

Title:

Content: Brittney Griner pleaded guilty in Russia to marijuana charges, so what happens next?

WNBA star Brittany Griner pleaded guilty Thursday to bringing cannabis-derived oil cartridges to Russia, saying she had done so by accident. The move was significant as it shed the first light on her defense team's strategy, and it could potentially pave the way for a prisoner swap with the U.S. or a pardon that could see Griner freed.

"We of course hope for the leniency of the court," the basketball player's Russian lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, was quoted as saying by local media on Thursday outside a Moscow courthouse. "Considering all the circumstances of the case and taking into account the personality of our client, we believe that the admission of guilt should certainly be taken into account."

From a procedural standpoint, under Russia's legal system a pardon or prisoner swap can only happen if the individual has already been convicted. Moscow is unlikely to respond to any of Washington's requests for Griner's release until she has formally been convicted.

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Thursday that "there are no formal or procedural reasons to discuss further steps" until Griner's trial is concluded.

On Friday, Ryabkov indicated that Russia was interested in putting the ball in Washington's court — leaving the Biden administration to make an offer for a potential swap if the two sides can reach the stage of closed-door negotiations on an exchange.

"As for any exchange schemes, our position is the same: this needs to be done behind closed doors through the available channels," Ryabkov said.

Ryabkov signaled clearly that Moscow could be interested in negotiating a swap for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, the so-called "Merchant of Death," who has been in U.S. custody since 2008.

"I'm not sure that any additional activity, especially in the public sphere, will help a correct, balanced compromise and find a basis to alleviate the fate of a lot of our compatriots such as Viktor Bout, who has health problems, [or] such as Seleznev, and many others," he said, referring to Roman Seleznev, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence in the U.S. on cyber-fraud charges.

U.S. officials have repeatedly referred to Griner as "wrongfully detained," a label the Kremlin said is not "helpful" in negotiations.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday during an official visit to Indonesia that securing the release of Griner and another U.S. citizen, Paul Whelan, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges in Russia, was a "number one priority" for the Biden administration.

Asked about Ryabkov's remarks suggesting Griner's trial would have to play out before there was any further movement on a potential prisoner swap, Blinken told reporters he was "not going to engage in hypotheticals."

"We'll look for ways to engage and do everything we can to bring people home as quickly as we possibly can," he said.

Even though Griner has entered a guilty plea it could still take weeks or even months for the judge to issue a verdict in the case. Griner is expected to give testimony during the next hearing, which is scheduled for July 14.

The admission of guilt could play in Griner's favor in the long term, as it may lead to a shorter trial than would be expected if her legal team were to mount a fierce resistance to the charges. That was the case with another American, Trevor Reed, who was recently released in a swap for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko. After fighting the charges against him for nearly three years while he languished in a Russian prison, Reed was reportedly still made to sign a paper admitting his wrongdoing before he was released.

Possession and use of marijuana are illegal in Russia. Statistically, very few criminal cases end in acquittal in the Russian justice system.

If any negotiations on a potential prisoner swap fail — or fail to even materialize, given relations between Washington and Moscow are currently at or near an all-time low — pleading guilty and asking the court for mercy could at least see any sentence imposed on Griner shortened.

"We're still in a wait-and-see posture as to how the trial proceeds,"William Pomeranz, the acting director of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute in Washington and an expert on Russian law, told CBS News on Thursday.

"I think she pled guilty mainly to throw herself on the mercy of the court and to plead for leniency," Pomeranz said. He's previously told news outlets that that is often the best strategy to adopt with Russia's courts.

"We'll have to see if she gets the maximum sentence. Clearly this case has now become a political case, and there are already discussions, allegedly, about having a plea agreement and a prisoner swap with a Russian prisoner for Brittney Griner," he said. "We need to basically see whether this prisoner swap is in the cards, because if she indeed wants to get home as fast as possible, it will be only if there is a swap between Russia and the United States."

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Brittney Griner received support from dozens of organizations, including women's and LGBTQ groups, who pressed President Biden to secure her release from detention in Russia.