After Brittney Griner, WNBA star and vape smuggler, pleaded guilty in a Russian court Thursday to the charges against them, Biden Administration has been putting its feet down. In May, the Biden Administration declared the Phoenix Mercury center and U.S. Olympic basketball champion is being “wrongfully detained.”
The towering, 6-foot-9-inch Griner was arrested in February at a Moscow airport for attempting to board a plane while carrying drugs. “I’d like to plead guilty, your honor,” she said Thursday in court. “But there was no intent. I did not want to be a criminal.”
The U.S. government might want to walk back its “wrongfully detained” statement issued this spring. With her guilty plea Thursday, Griner certainly didn’t take that approach in her appearance before the judge.
According to media reports Griner could face a 10 year sentence in prison. She also recently stated that she fears being locked up for life. Griner’s lawyers are hopeful it will not happen.
“Considering the nature of her case, the insignificant amount of the substance and BG’s personality and history of positive contributions to global and Russian sport, the defense hopes that the plea will be considered by the court as a mitigating factor and there will be no severe sentence.”
Yep, personality and global contributions to sport should sway the Rusky judge that Griner’s offense isn’t as bad as it looks. According to her legal team, Brittney “sets an example for being brave.” “She has decided to take full responsibility for her actions as she knows that she is a role model for many people.”
May the term “role model” never again be used in reference to a woke WNBA social justice warrior. A Colin Kaepernick fanatic who is anthem-kneeling.
WNBA players’ union executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson acknowledged Russia’s 99-percent conviction rate, but demonstrated she’s also drinking the “wrongfully detained” Kool-Aid.:
“What we do know is that the US State Department determined that Brittney Griner was wrongfully detained for a reason and will continue negotiating for her release … the (Biden) administration needs to know that this powerful collective is behind them and supports whatever needs to be done to get BG, Paul Whelan (a former U.S. Marine imprisoned in a Russian labor camp since 2018 arrest on espionage charges), and other detained U.S. nationals home right away.”
Griner could appeal the verdict of her court or request clemency, according to Russia’s Foreign Ministry. It also rejected the “wrongfully detained” argument.
Rebekah Koffler, a former U.S. intelligence officer and an expert on Russia, told Fox News Digital Wednesday that Russia is unlikely to give Griner clemency. It’s a highly charged case, and the detention and “sham trial” can be used as a bargaining chip for a prisoner swap. “They will drag on the entire process, including appeal, simply as a negotiating tool to get what they want out of the Biden administration,” Koffler remarked.
Griner is due back in court July 14, and if her lawyers are smart, they’ll drop the “wrongfully detained” and “role model” hooey.
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