A Russian court Thursday convicted U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner of smuggling drugs “with criminal intent” in a politically charged trial that has roiled already tense relations with the United States.
The court ruling was expected and came shortly after state prosecutors in Moscow proposed a jail term of 9 1/2 years for the women’s basketball star.
She was arrested earlier this year when vape cartridges containing a small amount of cannabis oil were found in her luggage while she was traveling to Moscow to play in a women’s basketball league. She said the cannabis was for medical purposes and that she had not realized she had included it while packing.