Brittney Griner pleaded guilty to a drug-trafficking charge Thursday after months in custody in Russia — and now, experts say her release in a possible prison swap could prove a complicated process with serious implications. During her court appearance, Griner maintained that her “intention” was not to violate Russian law. He could face up to 10 years in prison. “I would like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” she said, adding that she would testify later. No verdict has been issued in her case, but prisoner exchange talks for Griner, who the State Department says was wrongfully detained, have been a focus of talks as her trial continues. Brittney Griner arrives at a court hearing in Khimki, outside Moscow, on Thursday. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images) BRITTNEY GRINER ‘DETERMINED TO TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER ACTIONS’ BY PLEA, LEGAL TEAM SAYS Hugh Duggan, an American academic and longtime diplomat who served as the President’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs under the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital that Griner’s guilty plea further complicates her release by giving the Russian government more bargaining power. . “That brings her closer to being classified as a convicted felon with less than a 1% chance of acquittal. There would have been a greater margin if she hadn’t gotten to that point, I think, and let the system pull her over and not classify her. But this, by in my opinion, it might make her a more valuable source for Russia because now they can say we have a legitimate criminal under their law and we have to be loyal to our system, et cetera,” Dugan explained. Brittney Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images) One of the names mentioned as a possibility is Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death”, who is serving a 25-year sentence in the US after being convicted of conspiring to kill American citizens and providing aid to a terrorist organization. Dugan explained that this scenario would not be considered “proportionate” based on the charges on a case-by-case basis. Alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout walks through temporary cells before a hearing at the Bangkok Criminal Court on August 20, 2010. (CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images, File) “When we get to trading something like this with a hardened terrorist, the proportionality isn’t the same. And that’s always a big concern in negotiating that we don’t devalue our face to the point that the next day the same country gets another one of our tourists and another American are innocently walking around for the sake of leverage against some major foreign policy advantage we hold of theirs.” BRITTNEY GRINER pleads guilty to drug charges in Russia That sentiment was echoed by Tom Schwartz, a distinguished professor of history at Vanderbilt University, who called swapping prisons in a high-stakes case like this a “slippery slope.” “This kind of prisoner exchange is a slippery slope, opening up the opportunity for other kidnappings of Americans in other countries and the attempt by other nations to release prisoners in this way,” he told Fox News Digital. Fox News contributor Dan Hoffman, a former CIA station chief, said on the “Fox News Rundown” podcast that the practice of exchanging prisoners in cases like this is not a new strategy for the Kremlin. “The United States has historically been motivated to make these kinds of Faustian negotiations with the Soviets, or in this case, the KGB agent in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends the Victory Day military parade marking the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Moscow, May 9. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File) After news of Griner’s appeal broke Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov criticized the US government’s portrayal of the WNBA star’s case and the “publicity campaign” surrounding her detention. “We have a long-standing framework for discussing such issues. The efforts of the American side to raise hype in the public arena, to make noise about this issue are very clear and do not help to solve the issues in practice. ” Schwartz said Ryabkov’s comment signals the Kremlin is well aware of the urgency behind Griner’s release. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM “It puts that in place and makes it clear that Russia now recognizes, you might say, the value of Brittney Griner. I think that could be a negotiating position in the sense that by saying that the turmoil is going to make it more difficult for her, it increases the pressure on the president to is doing something quickly to try to free her, as the turmoil shows no signs of abating. In that sense, the opportunities for quiet diplomacy in this particular case seem to have passed.” WNBA basketball superstar Brittney Griner appears at a court hearing in Khimki, outside Moscow, on July 1. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images) The Russian foreign minister said on Wednesday that Griner would have the opportunity to appeal or ask for leniency once the verdict is handed down, but the real possibility of that, while not certain, is bleak. “The Russian justice system may enjoy giving her slightly less and think it showed some leniency, but I don’t think we’re talking about freeing her,” Schwartz said. “Judging Vladimir Putin has turned out to be a very misguided passion on the part of Western analysts who believed he would not invade [Ukraine], he thought he wouldn’t do that, and he does those things. So he can surprise us again.” The resolution, in that case, will likely be a long and challenging process, Rebecca Kofler, a Russian-born former U.S. intelligence officer and expert on Russia and Vladimir Putin, told Fox News Digital. “Putin’s administration has probably already sent its requests to Washington, either through official channels or through back roads. But usually these cases are extremely difficult to prosecute because of the two legal systems… The American side does not view Ms. Griner’s arrest as legal, even though she was found in possession of a substance that is illegal. The Russians insist the arrest is legal and want the US to recognize it. So it will be a battle of semantics in a way that mirrors the Russia-US standoff over control of Ukraine.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Brittney Griner (42) at a WNBA playoff game on Sept. 26, 2021, in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) Ryabkov’s comments on Thursday further solidify the battle that is yet to come. “The persistence with which the American government and representatives of the relevant [government] structures in Washington are calling those who have been convicted by us of serious charges and await appropriate verdicts, [as] “Detainees” are a reflection of Washington’s reluctance to understand the world adequately. Paulina Dedaj is a Digital Reporter for Fox News and Fox Business. Follow Paulina Dedaj on Twitter at @PaulinaDedaj. If you have a tip, you can email Paulina at [email protected]
