<div class="article__section article__section_type_text utility__text"> <p>Houston native and WNBA star&nbsp;<a href="https://www.khou.com/search?q=brittney+griner" _mce_href="https://www.khou.com/search?q=brittney+griner">Brittney Griner</a>&nbsp;has been freed as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia, according to the White House.</p> </div> <div class="article__section article__section_type_text utility__text"> <p>&nbsp;Griner was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, labeled the “Merchant of Death.” This was a one-for-one swap.</p> </div> <div class="article__section article__section_type_text utility__text"> <p>American and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan was not part of the exchange.</p> </div> <div class="article__section article__section_type_text utility__text"> <p>Earlier this month,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/russia-brittney-griner/285-2b8199cb-62c0-4671-9672-8cb6069f97e2" _mce_href="https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/russia-brittney-griner/285-2b8199cb-62c0-4671-9672-8cb6069f97e2" target="_blank">Griner began serving a 9-year sentence</a>&nbsp;for drug possession at a Russian penal colony in Mordovia, which is about 210 miles east of Moscow.</p> </div> <div class="article__section article__section_type_text utility__text"> <p>The all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medal winner was detained in February when customs agents said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.</p> </div>