MOSCOW, August 4 (RAPSI) – A court in Khimki, a town in the Moscow Region, on Thursday sentenced Brittney Yevette Griner, an American professional basketball player, to 9 years in penal colony for drug trafficking, RAPSI was told in the court’s press service.

Additionally, she was fined 1 million rubles.

A prosecutor earlier demanded 9.5 years in jail for Griner.

The basketball player was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February. The two-time Olympic champion, who plays for the Ekaterinburg UMMC, brought cartridges for vapes with hash oil in her luggage. A criminal case was initiated over drug smuggling.

Griner partially admitted her guilt, but noted that she had no intent to commit a crime.

According to the foreign media reports, Russia and the United States are discussing the possibility of exchanging the basketball player and Paul Whelan sentenced in Russia to 16 years in prison for Victor Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence in the US. The parties have not yet reached a consensus.