Brittney Griner lost her bid for leniency in her nine year sentence on drug charges in Moscow on Tuesday. Now she begins a nine year sentence in a Russian penal colony. She’s been staying in a Moscow prison while her case goes through the Russian court system.

She didn’t expect miracles, her attorney said, but Brittney hoped to have her sentence cut. There still remains hope that WNBA star Griner could be returned to the United States in a prisoner swap. Griner was convicted August 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

She took part in Tuesday’s session, held at the Moscow Regional Court via video call, from a penal colony outside Moscow, where she is being held. While her attorneys argued that Griner’s actions lacked intent, the 6-foot-9 basketball star addressed the court, asking to have her sentence adjusted: ‘This has been a very traumatic experience, waiting for this day … getting nine years for the crime. People with more severe crimes have gotten less than what I was given.’

Griner also apologized for what she described as a mistake. ‘I did not intend to do this, but I understand the charges brought against me and I just hope that that is taken into account too, that I did plead guilty.’

Not unexpectedly, the Russian judge exaggerated the amount of drugs that were found in Griner’s luggage. The judge said it was a significant amount of drugs but reports after her arrest in February show it was less than a gram of hashish oil.

This ruling means her best hope is for a prisoner swap. That, however, may not happen any time soon due to the political atmosphere after Putin invaded Ukraine. Griner’s attorneys told the media on Tuesday that Brittney fears she will be forced to serve her full sentence.

The White House issued a statement after Griner’s appeal was denied. The White House called it a ‘sham judicial proceeding’ and condemned the ‘intolerable circumstances’ facing Griner after she was ‘wrongfully detained.’

‘President Biden has been very clear that Brittney should be released immediately,’ the statement read. ‘In recent weeks, the Biden-Harris Administration has continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney as well as to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia, including fellow wrongful detainee Paul Whelan.

‘The President has demonstrated that he is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions to bring Americans home, as his Administration has done successfully from countries around the world. The Administration remains in regular touch with representatives of the families, and we continue to admire their courage in the face of these unimaginable circumstances.’

The US Embassy in Moscow also released a statement after the ruling.

‘Today was another sad day for the rule of law in the Russian Federation,’ Elizabeth Rood, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Moscow, said outside the courthouse. ‘The appeals court made a slight reduction in her sentence for time served in pretrial detention, but otherwise did not change the excessive and disproportionate sentence of nine years in a penal colony.

‘Nothing in the previous sentence, nothing in the result of today’s appeal changes the fact that the United States government considers Ms. Griner to be wrongfully detained,’ Rood said.

All Americans traveling to other countries should know that packing drugs is a bone-headed thing to do. In this case, Griner admits the vape canisters are hers but that they were in her luggage by mistake. Her attorneys provided the judge with a letter from her physician stating the cannabis was prescribed for pain. She was sentenced to nine years and her sentence could have been for up to ten years. That’s not much of a break but it’s the Russians and Putin, known for brutal actions against prisoners.

Needless to say, Putin and Russian officials aren’t heeding Biden’s demands that Griner be released. The talks between the State Department and Russian officials trying to negotiate a prisoner swap for Griner and Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage, appear to have stalled. Let’s hope both Americans will benefit from a prisoner swap sooner rather than later.