As whereabouts of WNBA star Brittney Griner and her possible return to the United States sit in limbo, how did we get here?

“It’s like déjà vu all over again; it’s like a reiteration of something that’s been happening for decades,” said Juris Pupcenoks.

He’s spent his time studying international relations, which led him to a career of teaching it at Marist College. It comes in handy when looking from the outside in at the case of Griner.

“I think that Russia is very aware of how this plays out in the U.S. court of public opinion. They know how this looks like for America, and that’s why they moved so quickly to get her to this penal colony,” said Pupcenoks.

It’s widely known conditions and compensation for work at Russian penal colonies are poor, and that she’s spending her days doing menial tasks.

“Sewing uniforms for Russian police and military. I’m sure prosecutors or whoever decided to send her to that knew that. So here’s a high-level American, wrongfully accused and prosecuted and then sent to a penal colony where she would be sewing uniforms for predominantly Russian military in Ukraine,” Pupcenoks said. “So that’s just adding insult to injury.”

As far as typical Russian court-of-law proceedings, he said the case moved swiftly from arrest to judgement, to punishment for Griner.

On Feb. 17, she was arrested at the Moscow airport for hashish oil in her luggage. On July 7, she pleaded guilty in what Pupcenoks believes was strategic to avoid a harsh punishment. Nonetheless, on Aug. 7, she was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison.

After an appeal filed by her lawyers was rejected on Oct. 25, Griner was moved from her detention center in Moscow to an undisclosed location. On Nov. 17, Reuters reported Griner had been moved to a penal colony in the Russian province of Mordovia.

According to Griner’s lawyers, she was detained for the possession of less than one gram of hashish oil, prescribed to her for pain management, but considered an illegal narcotic under Russian law.

Jerrick Hernandez works in the CBD and THC industry as a store manager at The Leaf in Beacon. What Griner was arrested for is an item he sells on a daily basis.

Hernandez knows the items and the production like the back of his hand, given he partakes in and sells the materials. A cartridge similar to what was found in Griner’s luggage is completely legal for purchase in New York on a recreational and medicinal basis.

“These are the vape cartridges that we sell here, that are essentially the same thing she got caught with herself,” said Hernandez.

He said his audience ranges from young adults to those of a mature group looking for an alternative treatment for pain management. Even being seasoned in the industry, he’s still run into roadblocks, even while at an airport on his way to Puerto Rico.

“I actually got ‘second searched’ because they saw it in my bag, but once they were able to distinguish what it was, they basically told me it was fine and I was able to go,” said Hernandez.

Knowing that, he said it’s hard to understand the reason for Griner’s arrest.

“[It’s] hysterical because it’s almost like a nonsense type thing. That’s because we live in two different worlds,” said Hernandez.