Posted on 12/08/22
| News Source: KHOU
Houston native and WNBA star Brittney Griner has been freed as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia, according to the White House.
Griner was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, labeled the “Merchant of Death.” This was a one-for-one swap.
American and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan was not part of the exchange.
Earlier this month, Griner began serving a 9-year sentence for drug possession at a Russian penal colony in Mordovia, which is about 210 miles east of Moscow.
The all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medal winner was detained in February when customs agents said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.