PHOENIX, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 10: Brittney Griner #42 of the Phoenix Mercury durring pregame warmups at Footprint Center on October 10, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Mattina/Getty Images)
With Brittney Griner pleading guilty to drug charges in Russia, new details on what happened leading to her arrest have been revealed.
Appearing in court this week, Griner pleaded guilty to bringing hashish oil into Russia. She asked the judge for mercy and said that she had done so inadvertently.
Griner explained that she accidentally packed vape cartridges into her luggage, leading to her detainment. She said she had no intention of breaking the law.
“I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” Griner said.
Unfortunately for Brittney Griner, pleading guilty won’t mean the end for her court proceedings in Russia. Far from it.
Russian courts can drag on the proceedings for months as the judge lists off charges and reads the full case record into.
Griner will give her full testimony on July 14 and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted for large-scale transportation of drugs.
But according to ESPN, this may be part of a diplomatic strategy to bring Griner home in a prisoner swap. Though it may also be an acknowledgement that an acquittal was impossible.
The bar for being acquitted in Russia is already extremely high given the nation’s high conviction rate. And even if found acquitted, Russian courts can overturn the acquittal anyway.
Will this move get us any steps closer to bringing Brittney Griner back?
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