A Russian court on Thursday sentenced Brittney Griner, a WNBA basketball star and Houston native, to nine years in prison for smuggling illegal drugs into that country.

Griner pled guilty to the charges last month and apologized for the incident, calling it an “honest mistake.”

The ruling is the latest grim development in a saga that began in February, when Russian authorities arrested Griner on the eve of that country’s unprovoked invasion into Ukraine.

Griner’s allies remain hopeful President Joe Biden will secure a prisoner swap for her release, much like he did earlier this year with another Texan, ex-Marine Trevor Reed.

The notoriously harsh conditions of Russian prisons has added to the diplomatic urgency. Last month, Biden administration officials offered to exchange Griner and Paul Whelan, another American held in Russia for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms trafficker imprisoned in the U.S.

Griner entered the country in February and was arrested for bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil in vape cartridges into the country. Griner apologized during Thursday’s preceding, saying she accidentally rushed her packing to play professional basketball in Russia and “had no intent to break Russian law.”

Griner was a star on the Baylor University Lady Bears basketball team from 2009-2013. She has played for the Phoenix Mercury since the 2013 draft, but also played basketball in China and Russia during the off seasons.

While she resides in Phoenix, several Texas congressional delegation members have remained in close contact with the State Department over this matter. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents the Houston area where Griner grew up, along with U.S. Rep. Colin Allred — a fellow Baylor University athlete and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — are closely engaged with securing her release.

This article was written by ABBY LIVINGSTON of The Texas Tribune.  The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.  This article originally appeared at: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/04/brittney-griner-sentenced-russia-guilty/