Brittney Griner is on her way back to the US, where she owns a 3,000-square-foot property in sunny Arizona.
When she gets there, after an evaluation at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, the WNBA star’s home will be a far cry from where she was imprisoned – in a Russian penal colony known for harsh conditions.
Griner’s property, located in Phoenix, was newly built in 2018 when she purchased it for $475,000, records obtained by The Post show.
Features include an open entryway that leads to a den, living and formal dining areas, and a gourmet kitchen with an upgraded granite island, the previous listing says.
Today, the home is estimated to be worth nearly $900,000.
Newly released photos of Griner living in the all-women penal colony show her most recent reality, which included a kid-sized twin bed for her to sleep on. With a height of 6’9″, it’s unlikely she slept comfortably.
Griner served just under 10 months of her nine-year prison sentence for smuggling charges involving cartridges containing cannabis oil discovered in her bag at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport early this year.
The 32-year-old was swapped in exchange for “The Merchant of Death” arms dealer Viktor Bout, who served 10 out of his 20-year prison sentence in America.
“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home,” President Joe Biden said in remarks from the White House before 9 this morning, where he was joined by Griner’s wife, Cherelle. The two spoke with the Phoenix Mercury center over the phone, according to senior White House officials.
“She’s on her way home, after months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances,” Biden added. “Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there all along. This is a day we’ve worked toward for a long time. We never stopped pushing for her release”
The exchange took place in the United Arab Emirates.
In a joint statement, the Saudi Arabian and UAE ministries of foreign affairs said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, brokered the deal.
“The success of the mediation efforts was a reflection of the mutual and solid friendship between their two countries and the United States of America and the Russian Federation,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has received backlash for failing to bring Paul Whelan home as well. Whelan, who served in the United States Marine Corps, has served four out of a 16-year prison sentence in Russia on accusations he was an American spy.
On Thursday, Biden insisted the swap “was not a choice of which American to bring home.”
“We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan. We will keep negotiating in good faith for Paul’s release,” he said.
Whelan shot back saying he was “disappointed” the Biden administration has not done more to get him out.
“I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up,” Whelan, 53, told CNN in an interview from the penal colony where he is being held.
“I was arrested for a crime that never occurred,” Whelan added. “I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.”
His parents, Edward and Rosemary Whelan, who are now in their 80s, own a 3-acre home in Manchester, Michigan, which they bought in 1990.
