One day after WNBA superstar Brittney Griner and the rest of the world learned of her nine-year prison sentence, the Russian government is reportedly ready to discuss a trade.
Griner was handed down her sentence Thursday after being found guilty of drug possession and smuggling. The seven-time All-Star was arrested in February on drug charges while traveling to Russia to play with her international team.
A center for the Phoenix Mercury, Griner is accused of entering the country with vape cartridges containing hashish oil, but the U.S. government declared in May that she was being wrongfully detained. It was learned last week that the Biden administration had offered a deal to the Russian government for the release of Griner, a trade that includes bringing the 31-year-old and another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan, back to the states in exchange for releasing a Russian arms trafficker currently serving jail time in the U.S.
