According to the Russian state news agency TASS, WNBA player Brittney Griner’s detention in Russia is being extended until May. Griner is being held on charges for the possession of vape cartridges holding hash oil allegedly found in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport, NBC News reports.
Griner, 31, entered a not guilty plea in a Russian court on Thursday, according to TMZ.
If convicted, the basketball star could face up to 10 years in prison.
Detained since February, Griner shares a cell with two inmates who “had no previous convictions and are charged with drug-related articles,” Ekaterina Kalugina, a member of Public Monitoring Commission, told TASS, according to NBC News.
Griner plays for the Phoenix Mercury as a center and has played basketball in Russia for the past seven years. The basketball player is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who won a WNBA championship with the Mercury and is a seven-time All-Star athlete.
U.S. Congressman Colin Allred said he hopes Griner is not being used as a political bargaining chip during the Russian-Ukraine conflict, as the Biden administration has implemented economic sanctions against Russia, TMZ reports.
“Right now, we want to see her treated normally,” Allred. said, according to TMZ. “As anyone else would be and come home as soon as possible.”
“We have to make sure that she’s treated as anyone else would be and she’s not a symbol or a hostage or anything like that,” he continued.
