Basketball star lands at Texas airbase after being swapped for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout
Guardian staff and agenciesreturned to the US early on Friday after being freed in a high-profile prisoner exchange from nearly 10 months in detention in Russia., secured the release of the most prominent American detained abroad and achieved a top goal for Joe Biden. But Washington failed to win freedom for another US citizen, Paul Whelan, who has been jailed for nearly four years.
The Russian foreign ministry confirmed Thursday’s swap, saying in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that the exchange had taken place in Abu Dhabi and that Bout had been flown home. Bout was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons that US officials said were to be used against Americans.
She acknowledged in court that she possessed canisters with cannabis oil, but said she had no criminal intent and had packed them accidentally. Her defence team presented written statements that she had been prescribed cannabis to treat pain.
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