Closing arguments in Brittney Griner's cannabis possession case in Russia are set for Thursday, nearly six months after the American basketball star was arrested at a Moscow airport in a case that has reached the highest levels of U.S.-Russia diplomacy.
Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Although a conviction appears almost certain, given that Russian courts rarely acquit defendants and Griner has acknowledged that there were vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage, judges have considerable latitude on sentencing.
It's not clear when the verdict will be announced. If she does not go free, attention will turn to the high-stakes possibility of a prisoner swap. Then last week, in an extraordinary move, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, urging him to accept a deal under which Griner and Paul Whelan, an American imprisoned in Russia on an espionage conviction, would go free.
People familiar with the proposal say it envisions trading Griner and Whelan for the notorious arms trader Viktor Bout. It underlines the public pressure that the White House has faced to get Griner released.
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