Brittney Griner’s Wife Cherelle Gives Her First Interview Since The WNBA Player Was Sentenced To 9 Years In A Russian Prison, Says She Feels Griner Is ‘A Hostage’ 

“It terrifies me because when you watch movies, sometimes those situations don’t end well. Sometimes they never get the person back…this is my life, so I’m sitting there like, ‘do we get her back? Do I ever get to see my wife again?’ What happens?..I feel like every day im hearing something new. It’s terrifying.”  

As previously reported, Brittney Griner, 31, was arrested just outside of Moscow in February for allegedly bringing a vape pen with a cannabis cartridge through the airport. The Phoenix Mercury player was charged with drug smuggling and was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison on August 4.

Following the sentencing, Griner’s attorneys officially filed an appeal on August 15. In September, one of Griner’s attorneys, Maria Blagovolina, told reporters the star athlete has been “stressed” during the process. She said,

“Brittney is stressed and very much concerned with the future.”

Reports state that once the appeal begins on October 25, the process will take several months. Another one of Griner’s attorneys, Alexander Boykov from the Moscow Legal Center said,

“It’s not very fast.”

Despite the appeal being a hit or miss, the United States government is reportedly in negotiations to bring Griner home as part of a prisoner exchange between the US and Russia. The Biden administration has stated publicly they were working on negotiations to have Griner and another US prisoner Paul Whelan returned in exchange for a not-yet-named Russian arms dealer held in the US.