Brittney Griner returned to Russian court on Thursday for witness testimony in her drug possession case, as her fate remains unclear after pleading guilty to charges that could send the WNBA star to prison for 10 years.

Griner, a 31-year-old center for the Phoenix Mercury, appeared at a courtroom outside Moscow during a third hearing in the case following her guilty plea last week.

She previously told a judge she didn’t intend to break the law when she was caught with 0.7 grams of cannabis oil in her luggage while entering Russia in February.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA all-star did not testify at Thursday’s proceeding. Instead, her attorneys called colleagues from the Russian professional team she plays for during the offseason who served as character witnesses in her defense, the Washington Post reported.

The hearing was closed to reporters and Griner arrived in handcuffs, according to Reuters.

UMMC Yekaterinburg captain Yevgenia Belyakova and team boss Maxim Ryabkov testified in Griner’s defense – with Ryakbov telling the court of her “outstanding abilities as a player and personal contribution to the strengthening team spirit,” the basketball star’s attorney told Reuters.

“It was an extremely emotional day for Brittney, who was touched by the appearance of the club director, head physician and her teammate, who gave an extremely positive description of our client both personally and professionally,” attorney Maria Blagovolina said.

A spokesman for Griner’s attorneys told Reuters she’s expected back in court on Friday.

Griner’s appearance came as Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned the US not to put pressure on Moscow over potential prisoner exchanges. Russian media outlets have speculated Griner could be swapped for Russian arms trader Viktor Bout – also known as the “Merchant of Death,” who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for conspiring to kill US citizens.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier Thursday any effort to secure Griner’s release would be “futile,” the Washington Post reported.

“We urge the U.S. authorities not to exploit this sensitive matter affecting the fates of certain individuals, and we advise them to abandon futile attempts to pressure us,” Zakharova said while urging Washington to communicate via established channels.

The stern message from Moscow marks the second warning in eight days from senior Russian officials that international pressure in the case would not help Griner’s cause.

President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have said they’re doing all they can to secure the release of “wrongly detained” Americans in Russia, including former Marine Paul Whelan.

The court appearance came a week after Griner pleaded guilty on July 7. She claimed she had no intention of committing a crime and was packing for Moscow in a hurry at the time.

A guilty plea does not automatically end trials in Russia, where attorneys can offer claims to mitigate any subsequent sentence to be doled out.

Griner’s incarceration since her Feb. 17 arrest has caught the attention of NBA superstar LeBron James, who backtracked Tuesday and claimed he wasn’t “knocking our beautiful country” after saying he wasn’t sure if he would return to the US if he were the WNBA standout.

“I was simply saying how she’s probably feeling emotionally along with so many other emotions, thoughts, etc inside that cage she’s been in for over 100+ days,” James tweeted late Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, James asked in a trailer for the latest episode of his talk show, “The Shop: Uninterrupted,” how Griner could “feel like America has her back.”

“I would be feeling like, ‘Do I even want to go back to America?’” James said in the clip.