Brittney Griner‘s wife is pleading with President Joe Biden to help bring her spouse home.
The seven-time WNBA All-Star was detained at the Moscow airport in Russia after vaping cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage. She’s been detained since February and faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Griner’s wife, Cherelle revealed Griner texted her as soon as she learned of her trouble. Almost 100 days after Brittney’s arrest, Cherelle said they have yet to speak again, only communicating sporadically through letters.
Cherelle shares with ABC’s Good Morning America that she now wants to speak with Biden about bringing the WNBA star back home.
“I just keep hearing, ‘he has the power,’ ‘she’s political pawn.’ If they’re holding her because they want you (Biden) to do something, then I want you to do it.”
Griner’s original detention date was supposed to end on May 19, but Russia extended her pre-trial detention for another month.
Her wife says that Griner didn’t want to play overseas but cannot solely make enough money playing in the WNBA.
“BG would wholeheartedly love to not go (play) overseas,” her wife said. “She has only had one Thanksgiving in the states in the nine years that she has been pro, and she misses all that stuff because she can’t make enough money in the WNBA to sustain her life.”
Though Cherelle was “grateful” to receive a call from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, she wants to see more action.
“You say she’s top priority, but I wanna see it, and I feel like to see it would be me seeing BG on U.S. soil. At this point, I don’t even know who I’m getting back when she comes back.”
