Russian judge sentences US basketball star Griner to nine years in prison

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner stands listening to a verdict in a courtroom in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, August 4. Picture: Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP

A judge in Russia has convicted and sentenced American basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling.

Judge Anna Sotnikova said the time Griner has served in custody since her arrest in February will count toward the sentence.

Griner reacted to the sentence with little emotion. She listened to the verdict with a blank stare on her face.

While recapping the evidence and giving her findings on Thursday, the judge said 31-year-old Griner took drugs into Russia illegally.

Before the unusually quick verdict was announced, Griner made a final appeal to the court. She said she had no intention to break the law by taking vape cartridges with cannabis oil into the country when she flew to Moscow in February to play basketball in the city of Yekaterinburg.