Benzinga - by Maureen Meehan, Benzinga Editor.
WNBA star Brittney Griner is sharing her story for the first time about spending 10 months in a Russian prison in a special edition of 20/20.
In a clip of the emotional interview, Griner shared her experience of having been arrested and incarcerated after a small amount of cannabis oil was found in her suitcase at a Moscow airport. At the time, Feb. 17, 2022 — just one week before Russia invaded Ukraine — Griner was heading back to Russia where she played for seven years during the off-season from her U.S. team, a center for the Phoenix Mercury.
"I was just so scared for everything because there’s so much unknown," Griner told ABC's Robin Roberts, co-anchor of Good Morning America.
Roberts asked Griner what was going on in her mind when she realized that the cannabis cartridges were found in her luggage. Griner, a medical marijuana patient in the U.S., said she realized immediately that her mistake could have devastating consequences.
"My life is over right here," Griner answered.
Griner admitted that the conditions were so terrible that she had thoughts of ending her life. "The mattress had a huge blood stain on it. I had no soap, no toilet paper. That was the moment where I just felt less than a human," she told Roberts. "I just didn’t think I could get through what I needed to get through.”
When Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in July 2022, she told a judge in Moscow that she accidentally packed the vape cartridges in her luggage and did not intentionally break Russian law.
Sentenced to nine years in prison in August, Griner was released on Dec. 8 in a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. But not before being moved to a notorious penal colony.
In addition to the exclusive interview, Griner’s story is the subject of an ESPN documentary and a potential scripted series with ABC detailing her experience.
Photo: Courtesy of ESPN press room
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