Last week Griner was handed a stiff 9-year sentence after she pled guilty to violating Russian law by bringing cannabis vape cartridges into the country.

"I'm optimistic. I think she's going to be free," Richardson told ABC's This Week in a fresh interview. He revealed new information during the comments, saying that a "two-for-two" prisoner swap with Moscow is in the works.

"There's gonna be a prisoner swap, though, and I think it'll be two-for-two, involving Paul Whelan. We can't forget him," Richardson, who through The Richardson Center has had past successes in freeing Americans detained abroad, added. 

But as for Americans potentially 'forgotten about' by both the Biden administration and the media, there remains US citizen and teacher Marc Fogel, who last year was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian penal colony for possession of medical marijuana.