<!-- wp:html --><p>EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA</p>
<p>A Russian judge has found WNBA star <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/brittney-griner-sends-biden-desperate-letter-says-please-dont-forget-about-me">Brittney Griner</a> guilty on drug smuggling charges.</p>
<p>The verdict came down shortly after prosecutors demanded she be sentenced to nine years and six months behind bars, just four months shy of the maximum punishment provided for by Russian law. The court is expected to deliver her sentence at a later date. </p>
<p>Griner, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/phoenix-mercury-star-brittney-griner-is-arrested-in-russia-on-drug-trafficking-charges-over-vape-cartridges">charged with drug smuggling</a> after Russian authorities discovered vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport in February, pleaded guilty last month in a bid to receive a more lenient sentence.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-court-finds-brittney-griner-guilty-on-drug-smuggling-charges?source=articles&via=rss">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p><!-- /wp:html -->
A Russian judge has found WNBA star Brittney Griner guilty on drug smuggling charges.
The verdict came down shortly after prosecutors demanded she be sentenced to nine years and six months behind bars, just four months shy of the maximum punishment provided for by Russian law. The court is expected to deliver her sentence at a later date.
Griner, charged with drug smuggling after Russian authorities discovered vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport in February, pleaded guilty last month in a bid to receive a more lenient sentence.
