Brittney Griner Sent To Russian Penal Colony To Serve Sentence
Newsy
Griner's legal team says she has left a detention center for a penal colony — a common type of Russian prison where detainees work for minimal pay.
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 center with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 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.
