The Phoenix Mercury star — considered in some polls to be the United States’ most gifted female athlete — could face 10 years in prison if convicted on charges of large-scale transportation of drugs.
MOSCOW — Shackled and looking wary, WNBA star Brittney Griner was ordered to stand trial Friday by a court near Moscow on cannabis possession charges, about 4 1/2 months after her arrest at an airport while returning to play for a Russian team.
Her detention and trial come at an extraordinarily low point in Moscow-Washington relations. She was arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport less than a week before Russia sent troops into Ukraine, which aggravated already-high tensions with sweeping sanctions by the United States and Russia’s denunciation of U.S. weapon supplies to Ukraine.
Her supporters have encouraged a prisoner swap like the one in April that brought home Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for a Russian pilot convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy.
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