US offers prisoner swap to free Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The United States has offered Russia a prisoner swap in its effort to free two Americans detained in Moscow.
• According to CNN, the Biden administration has offered to exchange Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner and ex-U.S. marine Paul Whelan.
• Bout is a convicted Russian arms dealer currently serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S.

The United States has offered a prisoner swap with Russia to free WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S Marine Paul Whelan, CNN reported Wednesday.

The Justice Department, which usually doesn’t support prisoner exchanges, joined State Department and White House officials in the plan.

The Biden administration reportedly has offered to exchange Viktor Bout, a Russian arms trafficker currently detained in the U.S. for the two Americans.

Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” was arrested in a Thailand sting operation in 2008. He was accused of supplying the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia weapons that the U.S. claimed were intended to kill Americans.

In 2012, Bout was handed a 25-year sentence on four counts of conspiring to kill Americans, acquiring and exporting anti-aircraft missiles, and providing weapons to a terrorist organization.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinked told reporters, “we put a substantial proposal on the table weeks ago” and planned to speak with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov about the offer later this week.

Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after cannabis vape cartridges were discovered in her luggage. She pled guilty to having the hashish oil in her luggage and could face up to 10 years in prison.

In May, the State Department said Griner was “wrongfully detained by the Russian government.”

Griner, who plays professional basketball in Russia during the WNBA offseason, penned a letter to President Joe Biden, asking him not to forget about her and other Americans detained overseas.

Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018 on charges of espionage and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.

In April, American Trevor Reed was successfully traded for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a cocaine smuggler who was serving a 20-year sentence in the U.S. Ex-Marine Reed was convicted in 2019 for allegedly assaulting Russian police officers.

Source: Yahoo! News