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WNBA superstar Britney Griner She was sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted of drug charges in Russia last week.
Griner initially pleaded guilty for drug crimes. She was arrested in February for bringing e-cigarette cartridges containing cannabis-derived oil from a Moscow airport. She has been in custody ever since, and she is likely to be locked up in the country until the United States and Russia agree to exchange prisoners.
Former WNBA superstar and four-time Olympic gold medalist in an illustrious career, Lisa Leslie attended Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s ping-pong four-purpose event on Monday. She told Fox News Digital about Griner’s sentencing.
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On Thursday, August 4, 2022, WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Britney Griner poses for a picture standing in a courtroom cage for a hearing in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow, Russia. holding
(Pool photo via Evgenia Novozhenina/AP)
“It’s a shame,” said the former LA Sparks great. “But I hope everything goes in the right direction. I know they were asking her to plead guilty to her. I hope you can go home.
“Britney will always be in our prayers and we all hope this is over soon.”
Leslie believes Griner’s arrest and sentence serve as a lesson for everyone.
NBA, WNBA call Britney Griner’s ruling ‘unfair and unfortunate’, sports react
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Britney Griner is escorted out of court after a hearing in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlyanichenko)
“And we have learned a lot from that lesson for all of us. Not because the rules are different and you need to know that,” she said.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken spoke Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last month urged him to accept a deal for Griner and Paul Whelan, an American jailed on espionage charges.
Lavrov said last week at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Cambodia that Russia was “ready to discuss” the exchange of prisoners of war, but that a dedicated Russian-US channel set up by President Biden and President Vladimir Putin Said it’s only through.
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Britney Griner drinks water as she listens to the verdict in a courtroom cage in Khimki, a Moscow suburb, Russia, Thursday, August 4, 2022.
(Pool photo via Evgenia Novozhenina/AP)
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“If Americans ever again attempt to engage in public diplomacy and loudly express their intention to take certain measures, I would even say that’s their job, and I would even say it’s their problem.” , often have trouble keeping to agreements on calm and professional work.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
