Brittney Griner could face up to five years in a Russian labor camp after she was arrested in the country last month, an expert told Fox News.
The 31-year-old Phoenix Mercury basketball star was arrested in Russia last month after Russian officials allegedly found vape cartridges in her luggage and accused her of attempting to smuggle drugs into the country. She has been in a Russian jail ever since, but it took weeks for the U.S.A to actually find out about it.
Russian law expert Peter Maggs of the University of Illinois College of Law is predicting her pending legal case could result in a 5- to 10-year prison sentence, which could also include time spent at a labor camp.
“You’re talking about five years, not jail time, but a labor camp. One thing I find a little worrisome is this extension of her preliminary holding from two months to three months, because you have to go to a higher authority to get it lengthened,” he said.
“It is illegal to bring all sorts of drugs into the country [Russia], including cannabis oil,” Maggs said.
The law professor also speculated that Griner could be completely innocent as Russian authorities are known to plant drugs on people to arrest them under false pretenses “if the regime wanted to get them in trouble.”
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“We don’t know what really happened,” he added.
As of now, we can only hope for her safe return.
