Baylor WNBA Star Brittney Griner Has Russian Court Date Set
Former Baylor Bears and current WNBA superstar Brittney Griner began preliminary proceedings for her court case in Moscow on Monday, with the trial set to officially begin on July 1.
Griner was detained by the Russian government on February 17, after allegedly being found to be in possession of illegal cannabis oil cartridges and arrested at a Moscow airport.
She is now being charged with large-scale transportation of drugs. Griner now potentially faces a 10-year prison sentence in Russia if convicted.
Cherelle Griner, Brittney's spouse, has expressed impatience in regards to the U.S. Government's unwillingness to act swiftly on Brittney's return.
"There is one person that can go get her, and that's our president," Griner told ESPN. "He has that power. You know, I'm just like, 'Why are we not using it? Like, urgently, use it.' We're expecting him to use his power to get it done."
Griner has been detained by the Russian government for over 100 days.
Efforts to bring Griner home continue with the latest progress involving U.S. government officials.
The Phoenix Mercury recently released a statement via Twitter to announce the House of Representatives had passed Congressman Greg Stanton's bipartisan resolution to push for her release after being detained in Russia earlier this year.
"Stanton and many others are continuing to work with the White House, State Department and Brittney's family to secure her safe return," the team tweeted.
Cherelle expressed her gratitude "for this overwhelming show of support from Congress ... We need to be doing all we can to keep Brittney's case on the forefront and finally put an end to this nightmare.''
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Matt Galatzan the Editor-In-Chief of InsideTheBears.com, TheGroveReport.com, RamDigest.com, AllSeahawks.com, and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels. For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com