WNBA star Brittney Griner was famously sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison in Aug. 2022 for carrying cannabis oil. The Texas-born athlete was initially detained in February 2022 and spent 10 months in Russian custody before being released in a U.S.-Russia prisoner swap in December 2022. Speaking out on Thursday, Griner said she was “emotional” and overjoyed to hear about the release of U.S.