Report: Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to help facilitate prisoner exchange

Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on Thursday to drug charges in Russia, but she told the criminal court that she did not intentionally break any laws.

Griner told the court that she had “inadvertently” packed vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage when she was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on Feb. 17.

“I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” Griner said in court Thursday.

Griner is facing up to 10 years in prison, but ESPN’s T.J. Quinn reports that the guilty plea was a strategy to help facilitate a prisoner swap that could help get the WNBA star home to the United States. It was also Griner’s way of acknowledging that she has virtually no chance of being acquitted.

The guilty plea will not end Griner’s trial. Under Russian law, a judge continues to read the full case file into the record after a guilty plea. Proceedings following a guilty plea can still drag on for weeks or months.

U.S. officials described Griner’s trial as “theater” and believe a guilty verdict is a foregone conclusion. Eventually, the U.S. and Russia are expected to reach a deal to release one or more Russians who are in U.S. custody in exchange for Griner’s release. Quinn notes that Griner would almost certainly have to admit guilt in order for such a deal to be facilitated, which is likely why she pleaded guilty.

Earlier this week, Griner’s coach sounded off over the 31-year-old’s detainment.