- Brittney Griner's lawyer said she called Thursday's sentencing hearing "doomsday."
- "When we saw Brittney on Tuesday, we told her, 'See you on Thursday.' She said, 'See you on doomsday,'" Maria Blagovolina told Reuters.
- Griner "was right," Blagovolina said, as she was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison on drug-smuggling charges.
Brittney Griner appeared to know her fate in Russian court, calling Thursday's hearing and sentencing "doomsday" when she spoke to her lawyer earlier in the week, her lawyer said.
"When we saw Brittney on Tuesday, we told her, 'See you on Thursday'," Griner's lawyer, Maria Blagovolina, told Reuters.
The WNBA superstar and two-time Olympic gold medalist responded, "See you on doomsday,'" Blagovolina told Reuters.
"So it looks like she was right," the lawyer added in her retelling, referring to the guilty verdict and nine-year prison sentence handed down to Griner on Thursday.
Griner has been held in Russian custody since February when she was detained at a Moscow airport after officials found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
Her trial came to a close on Thursday, with a judge finding Griner guilty with criminal intent of the drug smuggling charges.
She had previously pleaded guilty to lessen the potential 10 years of jail time typical of Russian drug-smuggling charges.
The Biden administration announced that it had offered to swap a convicted Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, in exchange for the early release of both Griner and Paul Whelan, a former US Marine also detained in Russia.
Russia has yet to formally respond to the administration's offer but suggested that they would be interested in the swap if the US helps to free an additional convict — a Russian national who was tried, sentenced, and imprisoned for murder in Germany.
As the pressure mounts to get Griner home, Biden called on Russia Wednesday to release her as he has identified her as a "wrongfully detained prisoner."
