Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner acknowledged in a court near Moscow on Thursday that she was guilty of smuggling narcotic substances. Griner, 31, faces a prison term of five to 10 years, though her acknowledgment could lead to a reduced term.
Griner, who played for the Russian team UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA offseason, has been detained in Russia for approximately 140 days following her arrest in February at Sheremetyevo airport. She’s been accused of attempting to transport hashish oil in vape cartridges. Griner’s arrest occurred while the U.S. State Department had begun to urge Americans in Russia to leave the country in anticipation of a Russian conflict with Ukraine.
Griner’s acknowledgment does not impact her standing with the State Department. In May, the agency classified Griner as “wrongfully detained.” This means the U.S. will attempt to negotiate her release whether or not she broke Russian law.
On Wednesday, the day before Griner would acknowledge guilt, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner. According to a White House statement, Biden “called Cherelle to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world.”
In a phone interview with Sportico, Penn State Dickinson Law Professor William Butler, an expert on Russian law, international and comparative law, emphasized that, contrary to media reporting, Griner has not pleaded guilty—no such pleas are possible in the Russian legal system—but has instead acknowledged guilt. “She could have done it earlier,” Butler noted, in reference to a hearing following Griner’s arrest when she elected to remain silent (she could have also denied guilt).
Griner was given another chance to acknowledge guilt after the prosecution presented its case in her trial, which began last week. This time Griner acknowledged drugs were in her luggage, while insisting that she didn’t intend to break Russian law. To that end, Griner explained that she rushed to pack for her flight. Butler, however, underscored that, like in U.S. courts, intent to break the law is not the relevant metric for a Russian court assessing intent. The key question is instead whether she intended to smuggle the drugs.
Griner faced seemingly insurmountable odds in her trial.
For one, if she acknowledged an intent to transport drugs, she would have broken the law. For another, the conviction rate in Russian trials has been calculated as high as 99%, with other estimates closer to 95%. The conviction rate in the U.S. is also very high, which leads to numerous plea deals. According to a Pew Research study, 90% of defendants facing federal criminal charges plead guilty, and of those who take their chances before a jury, 86% are convicted. Still, a conviction rate in the ballpark of 95% to 99% makes a conviction nearly certain.
Butler told Sportico that Griner voicing responsibility could help her receive a prison sentence on the lower end of the five-to-10-year range. How long Griner remains in Russia will also depend on whether U.S. and Russian officials arrange for a prisoner swap. In May, Russia sent home former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed while the U.S. returned Russian citizen Konstantin Yaroshenko. Both men had been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
