According to a report from ESPN, WNBA player Brittney Griner is free. ESPN tweeted out just moments ago, that according to US officials, Russia has freed Griner in a prisoner swap. In exchange, the US is releasing Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. CNN is reporting that Griner is now in the custody of American officials.
What happened to Brittney Griner?
Griner, who is 32, is a 7-time WNBA All-Star who had been playing for the Russian women’s basketball team during the WNBA offseason. Back in February, Griner was arrested and charged with drug smuggling at an airport in Moscow. Griner reportedly had cannabis oil in her luggage and she was sentenced to nine years in prison, before being moved to a penal colony in the Mordovia republic.
Bout, who has the nickname of the “Merchant of Death,” was serving a 25-year sentence in the US on the charges of conspiring to kill American citizens, acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles, and give material support to terrorists.
