Russian Judge Ends WNBA Basketball Player Brittney Griner's Career: Sentenced To 9 Years In Prison For Marijuana Possession

JAKARTA - A Russian court on Thursday sentenced American women's basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for being found guilty of knowingly bringing a vape cartridge containing marijuana into Russia.

Griner, a two-time Olympic women's basketball gold medal and WNBA champion, was detained in February when she arrived in Russia to play for her country's team during the WNBA break.

The 31-year-old athlete admitted to having a vape cartridge containing marijuana oil but said it was a pure mistake because she accidentally packaged it.

Before being convicted, Griner tearfully pleaded with a Russian judge not to "end her career" with a cruel prison sentence. The court also sanctioned a fine of 1 million rubles or 16,990 US dollars (IDR 250 million).

Griner's lawyers said they would appeal the highly unreasonable ruling. The team of lawyers said that the court ignored all available evidence as well as Griner's guilty plea.

"She (Griner) was very angry, very stressed. She could barely speak," said Maria Blagovolina, Griner's team of lawyers.

Russian prosecutors previously demanded that Griner be sentenced to 9.5 years in prison if found guilty of bringing illegal drugs into the country.