The US basketball star is facing up to 10 years in jail if convicted
© RIA
US women’s basketball star Brittney Griner has pleaded guilty in her Russian drugs case, according to reports from the Khimki City Court just outside Moscow.
Griner, 31, entered the plea as her trial resumed on Thursday.
“I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” Reuters quoted Griner as saying in English, in comments then translated into Russian.
“I’d like to give my testimony later. I need time to prepare.”
Griner, a two-time Olympic champion, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on February 17 after a search of her luggage found banned hashish vape cartridges.
Her case has attracted attention all the way up to the White House, with US officials claiming Griner has been “wrongfully detained.”
The Kremlin has refuted those accusations, saying it is not involved in the case and that Griner must face Russian law just like anyone else.
MORE TO FOLLOW
