Prosecutors in the Russian court said Griner’s arrest on drug charges was “fully substantiated” and demanded that she serve nearly a decade in a maximum security prison and pay a large fine. A verdict in the WNBA star’s case was expected Thursday afternoon, her attorney, Maria Blagovolina, said. A guilty verdict appears to be a foregone conclusion, as Griner’s conviction would be a necessary step toward a prisoner swap with the US. US officials say Russia is seeking to exchange Griner and Paul Whelan, a former US Marine arrested on espionage charges in 2020, for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout. A lawyer for Whelan told the Guardian, however, that no final agreement appeared to have been reached. Russia has already swapped Trevor Reed, a former marine captured in Moscow, for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot held for nearly a decade in the US on a drug-trafficking conviction. The exchange at a Turkish airport recalled a Cold War thriller as the two men walked past each other to board planes for their respective countries. The US said Griner was detained in error, arguing that the charges against her, after a pen containing marijuana oils was allegedly found in her luggage, were intended to put political pressure on the US. In closing arguments Thursday at the city court in Khimki, near Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, Griner’s lawyer said the Phoenix Mercury basketball player used marijuana only for medical purposes and described the pressures on the basketball star, who he compared to sprinter Usain Bolt. He pleaded not guilty in the case. There were early signs in the courtroom that a verdict may be imminent. Special police forces with bomb-sniffing dogs patrolled the small building, and court officials said they would allow more cameras into the courtroom if a verdict was handed down. Griner did not answer questions as she was led into the courtroom earlier in the day.
