MOSCOW, August 15 (RAPSI) — American basketball player Brittney Griner's defence has appealed against her nine-year jail sentence for drugs possession and trafficking.

Griner was sentencenced earlier in August after pleading guilty to the charges. A court in Khimki, outside Moscow, also ordered her to be fined 1 million rubles.

A prosecutor requested a 9.5 jail term for Griner.

The two-time Olympic champion, who plays for the Ekaterinburg UMMC, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on Feb. 17 after cannabis-infused vape cartridges were found in her luggage.

Griner said that she had no intent to commit a crime and she had made an "honest mistake".

According to mass media reports, Russia and the United States are discussing the possibility of exchanging the basketball player and Paul Whelan sentenced in Russia to 16 years in prison for Victor Bout, who is serving a 25-year sentence in the US.