According to the Associated Press, a hearing on Brittney Griner's appeal has been scheduled for October 25.
Griner was given a nine-year prison sentence in Russia on August 4. One week before her appeal hearing, she will be 32.
The Moscow region court will consider Griner's appeal, according to the AP.
Since her attorneys formally filed an appeal on August 15, she has been anticipating information about the appeals procedure. According to Griner's attorney Maria Blagovolina, the Phoenix Mercury star has been "stressed" throughout the procedure, who said as much to PEOPLE in September.
Partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners Blagovolina remarked, "Brittney is agitated and really concerned about the future."
The appeal procedure will start on October 25 and last for several months, according to another of Griner's attorneys, Alexander Boykov from the Moscow Legal Center, who spoke to PEOPLE. It is not very quick.
On August 4, Griner was given a sentence of nine years in prison for allegedly smuggling drugs into the nation, which is just one year less than the maximum penalty of ten years. Blagovolina had declared the punishment to be "totally absurd" following the trial.
Additionally, there is still a chance that Griner will take part in an American-Russian prisoner exchange. The Biden administration and Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in July that negotiations are underway with Russia to exchange the WNBA star and Paul Whelan, another American who is detained there, for a yet-to-be-identified Russian prisoner being held in the United States.
According to Blagovolina, Griner was "very delighted to know that she's not been forgotten and that there are some probable advancements" when she learned about the trade. She is, however, very realistic about the situation.
Griner reiterated her position that even though she admitted to smuggling less than 1 gramme of cannabis oil into Russia, she did it "inadvertently" and requested the court for leniency during final arguments in her trial.
"I pleaded guilty to my charges because of this. I pled guilty because I understood all that was said against me and the charges against me, but I didn't intend to violate any Russian laws "Griner stated, as reported by CNN.
