Brittney Griner

Player released in exchange for imprisoned Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The Biden administration agreed to release the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for the release of the WNBA superstar.

"He's a violent criminal, who was responsible for aiding and abetting violence all over the world." Scheindlin, then a federal judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York who ruled on the case, has since said "the sentence was too high in the first place." "At the same time, it's important that we work to reinforce the global norm against these arbitrary detentions, against what is truly a horrific practice." "I had to give the sentence I gave." She added that "he'd be deranged the risk going back to prison." [lobbied hard for Bout's return](https://www.rferl.org/a/why_is_moscow_so_interested_in_securing_viktor_bouts_return/24380641.html) ever since, and Russian media repeatedly linked him to potential prisoner swaps with imprisoned Americans — including Reed. Soon after, Bout was arrested in Bangkok and, following an extended legal battle and protests from the Russian government, extradited to the United States. American officials lured the elusive arms distributor to engage with purported representatives of a Colombian guerilla group. The [Biden administration initially proposed the prisoner exchange](https://www.insider.com/biden-offers-arms-trafficker-brittney-griner-potential-exchange-russia-2022-7) in June to bring the basketball superstar back to the US. Known as the "Merchant of Death," he is infamous for supplying rebel groups and terrorist organizations with weapons that fueled bloody wars across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. His 2008 arrest in Thailand, though, wasn't actually based on charges for the high-stakes trafficking operations that have since served as inspiration for several movies, documentaries, and books. [sentenced to nine years in Russian prison](https://www.insider.com/brittney-griner-guilty-sentence-9-years-russian-prison-drug-smuggling-trial-2022-8).

Brittney Griner was released by Russian government in exchange of their prisoner, Viktor Bout, who was held in the US for dealing arms.

Such a public overture drew a chiding rebuke from the Russians, who said they preferred to resolve such cases in private, and carried the risk of weakening the U.S. A separate trade, Marine veteran Trevor Reed for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted in the U.S. Even so, the fact that the deal was a one-for-one swap was a surprise given that U.S. Griner was arrested at the Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February when customs officials said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage. In releasing Bout, the U.S. In an extraordinary move during otherwise secret negotiations, Blinken revealed publicly in July that the U.S. Bout, whose exploits inspired a Hollywood movie, was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons that U.S officials said were to be used against Americans. officials had conveyed cautious optimism in recent weeks after months of strained negotiations, with Biden saying in November that he was hopeful that Russia would engage in a deal now that the midterm elections were completed. officials had for months expressed their their determination to bring home both Griner and Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner on Thursday in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, with the U.S. The president was to address reporters later in the morning. The swap was confirmed by U.S.

The American basketball star was imprisoned in Russia for 10 months as diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow ground to a halt.

Biden said at a press conference Thursday freeing Griner but not Whelan was not a “choice of which American to bring home,” asserting Russia is treating Whelan’s potential release differently for “totally illegitimate reasons.” American Trevor Reed, a fellow Marine veteran, was released by Russia in April Marine Paul Whelan is now the only known American imprisoned in Russia. [for allegedly](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/international-arms-dealer-viktor-bout-convicted-new-york-terrorism-crimes) selling arms to a designated terrorist group. The U.S. She is on a plane.

This morning, I joined President Biden, Vice President Harris, National Security Advisor Sullivan, and Cherelle Griner in the Oval Office, as Cherelle spoke ...

Russia says Griner was traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian former arms dealer convicted and jailed in the United States.

The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland,” the defence ministry said. “While we celebrate Brittney’s release, Paul Whelan and his family continue to suffer needlessly,” Blinken said in a statement. “We remain in close touch with Paul’s family – the Whelan family – and my thoughts and prayers are with them today.” Breathing a deep sigh of relief that Brittney Griner is safely on her way home. She had pleaded guilty, but said she had made an “honest mistake” and had not meant to break the law. Russia’s foreign ministry said she had been traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian former arms dealer jailed in the United States.

The Texas basketball star was first detained in February and was recently moved to a Russian penal colony.

Roosevelt Room 8:38 A.M. ESTTHE PRESIDENT: Well, good morning, folks. And it is a good morning. Moments ago, standing together with her.

Those who have who have worked with Mercury center Brittney Griner throughout her basketball career expressed relief and gratitude that she is headed home ...

"There has not been a day over the past ten months where we all haven't had Brittney Griner on our minds and in our hearts," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. Our prayers remain with her and her family as they recover and heal together." "The emotions for our organization, just like for our fans and so many across the world, are those of joyous celebration, deep gratitude, grief for the time lost, and sincere hope for all families still awaiting the return of a loved one." "I cried, and I'm a girl from Philly. and then, honestly, I cried," Staley said on ESPN's "First Take." "It has been a terrible ordeal for BG, but thankful for President Biden and Vice President [Kamala] Harris and everyone that has helped get her home.

"After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under untolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she ...

See the moment Brittney Griner was swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. The two prisoners were exchanged on a UAE airport tarmac, ending Griner's ...

"I had to give the sentence I gave." She was charged with the large-scale transportation of drugs and moved to a Russian jail shortly after, before sitting for a trial in Russia. He was subsequently convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison, with the possibility of serving time at a labor camp. He offered to sell weapons to the rebels, even with the understanding that the materials could have been used to kill Americans. For most of Griner's detainment, the US attempted to negotiate a two-for-one swap involving the release of both the basketball star and fellow wrongfully detained American Paul Whelan. Scheindlin — a then-federal judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York who ruled on the case — thought her mandatory minimum 25-year sentence "was too high in the first place." Instead, Bout was caught in a Drug Enforcement Agency sting operation. But even so, the Hon. Griner then walks off with the American man who had been escorting Bout. She is on her way home," at 8:14 a.m. She is on a plane. In the clip, the trio, plus Griner, approaches Bout along with another suited man.

“The Philadelphia House Delegation is proud to join in welcoming Brittney Griner home from nine months of illegal and unjust detention in Russia.

Deal led to exchange of notorious arms trafficker for US basketball star while not including former marine.

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Let me start by putting today in context. Throughout this administration, President Biden has prioritized the safe return of all Americans held hostage and ...

And all of that is, of course, available to Brittney the way it is to every American that we bring home. With respect to Bout, it’s an opportunity to emphasize what I said before, which is to be cautious of what you read from the Russians. Can you kind of talk out the extent to which you’re worried that the deal — I mean, for the price for him has gone up? So, it was a couple of days ago that — consistent with where conversations were going with the Russians — they moved Brittney from the penal colony to Moscow in preparation for what occurred today. had offered alternative options as part of these negotiations, so I’m wondering if you could talk a little bit about what else you were prepared to do and then, I guess, what else Russia would have wanted that could have also secured the release of Paul Whelan that perhaps the U.S. And as I indicated before, there’s gratitude from the government to outside advocates who raised their voices in support of Brittney, like Governor Richardson, who tried to be constructive in keeping us informed as to how they were thinking about the matter. But I think what the Russians have heard from us, privately and publicly, and what they will see today is our rejection of the way in which they have treated him as they put him through sham proceedings that convicted him of trumped-up espionage charges, and our insistence that we find a way to resolve the situation and get him home where he belongs. Is there now, the fact that you’ve reached this agreement, some goodwill that can be employed to make agreements on other factors — some of the other matters that you were discussing before, such as Ukraine or some of these other big issues? One is that, of course, getting this done and reaching the result that is such a relief and that it brings Brittney home in no way But that leads me to point two, which is: Getting this done in the midst of that — much as getting Trevor Reed home a number of months ago, as this was unfolding as well — speaks to this administration’s commitment to and ability to work through the return of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained with even some of the actors in the world we get along least well with. [Senior administration official], I just wanted to ask you to — just stepping back a little bit — what do you think this deal says about the ability of the United States and Russia to do business at a moment where, you know, not only is there this very intense tension over Ukraine and the speculation about the use of nuclear weapons, but also, you know, an increasing amount of other unrelated things that are grinding to a halt, like, you know, cooperation in the Arctic and New START and everything like that? And have the Russians committed to continue the negotiations on this matter?

Moscow said it traded the U.S. basketball star for arms dealer and Russian citizen Viktor Bout. The swap occurred at the Abu Dhabi airport, and President ...

Bout was variously dubbed "the merchant of death" and "the sanctions buster" for his ability to get around arms embargoes. Bout was one of the world's most wanted men before his arrest in 2008 in Thailand in a sting operation by U.S. A Biden administration official said the United States had proposed different options for Whelan's release and that Russia's "sham espionage" charges against him were the reason it treated his case differently. In a written statement, Griner's family extended their "sincere gratitude" to Biden, and said they were praying for Whelan's release. I was arrested for a crime that never occurred." "And the president decided that it was important to at least bring Brittney home now and continue to work on getting Paul back, too." Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone with Griner from the Oval Office, along with Griner's wife, Cherelle. Griner, 32, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and star of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on Feb. Russia's foreign ministry said it traded Griner for Bout, 55, a Russian citizen who in 2012 was given a 25-year prison sentence by a U.S. officials in the UAE verified Griner had arrived there. "The choice before us was one or none," U.S. He said in his announcement, without providing details, that the Russians treated Whelan's case differently.

The US basketball star Brittney Griner was released from Russian jail on December 8 in a prisoner swap for notorious arms dealer Victor Bout, known ...

Bout was detained in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok in 2008 in a US sting operation where he thought he was meeting with Colombian guerrillas and arrested under a warrant issued by a local court at the behest of the US. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said the same day that Russia will continue its work to release all Russians who were jailed by the US. He had been one of the world's most notorious arms dealers, selling arms to Afghanistan, Asia and Latin America. “Viktor Bout's Afghanistan dealings were always controversial,” Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies at Oxford University, said in a tweet. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and star of the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury, was arrested on February 17 after spending a few months playing professional basketball in the Russian regions. Bout was born in Tajik capital of Dushanbe in Soviet times. "The choice before us was one or none," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News. [Bout arrived in Moscow to a media circus](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jfGECP3gMCs-5bbi-8liBxVZZ9ZANdZT/view?usp=share_link) where he was met by his mother and wife. She was sentenced on August 4 to nine years in a penal colony. "The swap of Viktor Bout for US basketball player Brittney Griner can truly be described as a New Year gift. The elaborate swap involved two private planes bringing the pair to Abu Dhabi airport from Moscow and Washington, and then flying them home. The two prisoners were exchanged in Abu Dhabi airport before flying home and both received full pardons.

WNBA superstar Brittney Griner is free from a Russian prison, but what kind of future awaits her?

Her life is now a feather in the cap of the Biden administration. In her new life and identity, part of her seems destined to remain confined inside other people’s agendas. And of course Griner’s wife, Cherelle, who attended Thursday’s announcement with Biden and Vice President Harris, dressed in red and had joy all over her face even as she recognized the Whelan family and the plight of others whose hopes of a reunion with their loved ones remain unfulfilled. Advocates will ask for her voice and her celebrity for their social and political platforms. Thankfully, Griner is free, but so far we have heard only the surface level of what a 6-foot-9 Black queer woman faced in a Russian penal colony. Still, her critics want to see Biden’s decision as a black-and-white one in which he should have picked the former Marine, not the athlete who called for the WNBA to stop playing the national anthem before games. And that she accomplished that feat in her first professional outing? “[Thursday] is just a happy day for me and my family, so I’m going to smile right now.” Unjustly imprisoned and robbed of her distinguishing identity as a game changer in women’s basketball, she will now be regarded as an avatar for Will we remember that Griner was the first WNBA player to dunk twice in a game? “This is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time,” Biden said. Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia since Donald Trump was in office, remains in custody.

Griner was jailed for carrying cannabis oil at a Moscow airport in February, and was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Thursday. The pair were ...

In the video, apparently provided by Russian security services, Bout was warmly greeted by two Russian officials as Griner, who is 6ft 9in (206cm), looks on. Pictures showed him hugging his mother and wife at the airport tarmac. During her trial in Russia, she said the cannabis oil found in her bag had been an "honest mistake". She is one of the best-known sportswomen in America. Footage on Russian state media showed them crossing on the tarmac with their respective teams. He has been held in an American prison for 12 years.

American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following nearly ...

In a Thursday press conference, Biden said he spoke by phone to Griner and that she was safe and relieved but deserved privacy and rest. The Biden Administration negotiated her release in exchange for officials said she would receive specialized medical services and counseling.

Basketball star lands at Texas airbase after being swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

In releasing Bout, the US freed a former Soviet army lieutenant colonel whom the Justice Department once described as one of the world’s most prolific arms dealers. Before her conviction, the US state department declared her to be wrongfully detained, a charge that Russia has sharply rejected. Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Baylor University All-American and Phoenix Mercury pro basketball star.

The prisoner swap deal was reached after months of negotiations between Washington and Moscow.

He was arrested in Thailand in 2008 and extradited to the US two years later. Griner said she made an “honest mistake” and had not meant to break the law. Griner is also a two-time Olympic gold medallist.

American basketball star Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange following nearly ...

The release of WNBA star Brittney Griner after 10 months of Russian detention is cause for justifiable celebration. It has spared Griner from the ...