Fri | Jul 3, 2026

Brittney Griner sent to Russian penal colony to serve sentence

Published:Wednesday | November 9, 2022 | 2:42 PM
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner speaks to her lawyers standing in a cage at a courtroom prior to a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

MOSCOW (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner has been sent to a penal colony in Russia to serve her sentence for drug possession, her legal team said Wednesday.

A Russian court rejected an appeal of her nine-year sentence last month.

The eight-time all-star centre with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medallist was convicted August 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.

Her arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, and the politically charged case could lead to a high-stakes prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow.

“Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Russia is a minute too long,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

“As we have said before, the US Government made a significant offer to the Russians to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens.”

Griner's legal team said she left a detention centre outside Moscow on Nov. 4 for a penal colony — as prisons in Russia are commonly known. The move was expected since she lost her appeal.