MOSCOW — WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday pleaded guilty to charges that she smuggled drugs in Russia.
“I’d like to plead guilty, your honor, but there was no intent,” Griner told a Moscow judge during the second hearing in her trial that began last week, according to the New York Times. “I didn’t want to break the law.”
Officials at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February detained Griner — a Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist who is a lesbian and married to her wife, Cherelle Griner, — after customs inspectors allegedly found hashish oil in her luggage. The State Department has determined that Russia “wrongfully detained” her.
Brittney Griner earlier this week pleaded directly to President Joe Biden to help secure her release. The White House on Tuesday received a letter signed by 1,200 Black women who urge the administration to bring Brittney Griner back to the U.S.
“The letter is support — support from a group of Black women who are trying to save another Black woman. It’s as simple as that,” Dawn Staley, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and head basketball coach at the University of South Carolina, told the Washington Post. “I think about Brittney throughout the entire day, every day. I try to put myself in her shoes, and I’d want somebody fighting for me — people who won’t shut up.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, on Tuesday also asked Biden to arrange a “prayer visit” for Brittney Griner.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday spoke with Cherelle Griner.
The White House in a statement said Biden read Cherelle Griner his response to her wife’s letter. U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Elizabeth Rood on Thursday told reporters outside court that she delivered the letter to Brittney Griner.
Brittney Griner faces up to 10 years in prison.
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Thursday said his government would only negotiate Brittney Griner’s potential release with the U.S. once the court issues its verdict.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken after Brittney Griner’s guilty plea reiterated the Biden administration remains committed to securing her release.
“We will not relent until Brittney, Paul Whelan, and all other wrongfully detained Americans are reunited with their loved ones,” tweeted Blinken.
.@USEmbRu officials again attended Brittney Griner’s trial today and delivered to her a letter from President Biden. We will not relent until Brittney, Paul Whelan, and all other wrongfully detained Americans are reunited with their loved ones.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 7, 2022
Caris White contributed to this story.
