sport news Brittney Griner's appeal against nine-year prison sentence to be heard October ... trends now A Russian court on Monday set October 25 as the date for American basketball star Brittney Griner´s appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession. Griner, an eight-time all-star center with the WNBA´s Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested at a Moscow airport on February 17 after cannabis-infused vape cartridges were found in her luggage. She pleaded guilty to the charges but said she had made an 'honest mistake' by entering Russia with cannabis oil, which is illegal in the country. She was convicted on August 4. The Moscow region court said it will hear her appeal. Griner admitted that she had the canisters in her luggage, but testified that she had inadvertently packed them in haste and that she had no criminal intent. Her defense team presented written statements that she had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain. Her February arrest came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At the time, Griner, recognized as one of the greatest players in WNBA history, was returning to Russia, where she played during the U.S. league´s offseason. A Russian court has set the date of October 25 to hear Brittney Griner's appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession The nine-year sentence was close to the maximum of 10 years, and Griner´s lawyers argued after the conviction that the punishment was excessive. They said in similar cases defendants have received an average sentence of about five years, with about a third of them granted parole. Before her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner to be 'wrongfully detained' - a charge that Russia has sharply rejected. Reflecting the growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to bring Griner home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the unusual step of revealing publicly in July that Washington had made a 'substantial proposal' to get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage. Griner holds photographs standing inside a defendants' cage before a hearing at the Khimki Court, outside Moscow, on July 27 Blinken didn´t elaborate, but it was reported reported that Washington has offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and once earned the nickname the 'merchant of death.' The White House said it has not yet received a productive response from Russia to the offer. Russian diplomats have refused to comment on the U.S. proposal and urged Washington to discuss the matter in confidential talks, avoiding public statements. U.S. President Joe Biden met last month with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner, as well as the player´s agent, Lindsay Colas. Biden also sat down separately with Elizabeth Whelan, Paul Whelan's sister. Washington has reportedly offered to exchange Griner and Paul Whelan (right), an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage, for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout (center) is serving a 25-year sentence in the United States and once earned the nickname the 'merchant of death The White House said after the meetings that the president stressed to the families his 'continued commitment to working through all available avenues to bring Brittney and Paul home safely.' Cherelle Griner told CNN she left the meeting feeling confident that the Biden administration was doing it all it could, but added: 'I don't think they have quite figured out exactly what Russia wants in return for BG. 'It wasn't a meeting where the President told me the news that I want to hear,' Griner said. 'It wasn't that, but it was one of those still pivotal meetings where… it allowed me to have confidence in what he's doing right now.' U.S. President Joe Biden met last month with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Brittney Griner, as well as the player´s agent, Lindsay Colas Griner with her wife Cherelle, who has been begging for White House help for months She said Biden reassured her they were trying everything they could, but admitted efforts were hampered by the poor relations between Russia and the U.S. 'I'm going to give credit where it's due, and I feel as if this administration is putting a lot of manpower into ways to get BG home through negotiations,' she said. 'Because it's not as simple as one may think – of looking at the list of people we have and asking Russia to choose. 'It's more complex than that and they are exhausting a lot of effort.' The Biden administration carried out a prisoner swap in April, with Moscow releasing Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for the U.S. releasing a Russian pilot, Konstantin Yaroshenko, convicted in a drug trafficking conspiracy. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility