A Russian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by basketball player Brittney Griner to reduce her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession and smuggling, Reuters and AFP reported.

“President (Joe) Biden has made it very clear that Brittney must be released immediately,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan responded, lamenting that she continues to be “unjustly incarcerated in unacceptable circumstances after today had to go through another mock trial.” “

The Biden administration “continued to engage with Russia through all available channels and make every effort to bring Brittney home, and to support and protect the interests of other Americans imprisoned in Russia, including Paul Whelan, who is also being unjustly detained,” Sullivan added.

The court in Krasnohorsk, Moscow region, which considered the appeal, decided to “leave unchanged” the sentence handed down in August last year against the American basketball star, announced judge Olena Vorontsova.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, she was arrested on February 17 at a Moscow airport with e-cigarette cartridges containing hemp oil, banned in Russia. On August 4, she was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony.

The Russian lawyer for American basketball star Brittney Griner said Tuesday that she and her team hope to see her released in a prisoner swap with the United States.

Speaking to reporters after the Moscow appeals court upheld Griner’s nine-year sentence, lawyer Oleksandr Boykov said: “We hope that an exchange is possible.”

He said a legal team would speak with Griner in the coming days and the Americans would have to decide whether she wanted them to file another appeal.