Thursday 4 August 2022 09:31 PM Brittney Griner may be swapped with 'Merchant of Death' arms dealer within WEEKS trends now
Brittney Griner may be swapped by America for the 'Merchant of Death' arms dealer who has been bailed since 2010 as a desperate Joe Biden scrambles to undo her nine-year prison sentence for smuggling cannabis into the country, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Griner was today sentenced to nine years in prison for smuggling a weed pen into Moscow in February. The 31-year-old WNBA star claimed in court it was an 'honest mistake' and that she didn't mean to bring the drugs in.
For weeks, speculation has run rampant that the White House was preparing to negotiate a swap of Griner and Paul Whelan, another US citizen being held in Russian prison, in exchange for Viktor Bout, an arms dealer who was arrested in 2008 in Thailand at the request of the US authorities.
The Russians refused to agree on a deal before Griner's sentence, citing the need for judicial process.
Now, Biden - amid a swell of public pressure from Griner's fans in the world of sport and Hollywood - is rushing to have her released.
A source close to the ongoing negotiations told DailyMail.com that a deal to swap Griner with Bout is now more likely than ever, and could be completed within a month.
A source close to the ongoing negotiations told DailyMail.com that a deal to swap Brittney Griner with Viktor Bout is now more likely than ever, and could be completed within a month as the White House scrambles on weakened leverage to get her out of jail
'The US positioned has weakened now. They showed their hand and now their bargaining position has weakened'.
Griner's attorneys have ten days to file an appeal. After that, the matter would only take a few more weeks, they said. But the Russians may not be as quick to agree to it as Biden hopes.
'The US positioned has weakened now. They showed their hand and now their bargaining position has weakened'
While Putin is eager for Bout to returned, he has less time on his sentence now than Griner does.
Bout was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2012.
He had already served four years and has since completed another ten.
While he technically has 11 years left on his sentence, he must serve only 85 percent of the total term under federal prison guidelines which makes him eligible for release in around five or six.
'Are the Russians going to tip their hand? That's really the question,' the source added.
John Kirby, the US National Security Council Director for Strategic Communications, would only confirm that the US wants to strike a deal.
The deal has been lambasted by Republicans, including
