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Jailed Russian pilot Yaroshenko fears transfer to Pennsylvania’s Loretto prison

The prison in Loretto is much farther and the conditions there are much worse, according to Yaroshenko’s wife

© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 15. /TASS/. Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, serving a 20-year prison sentence in the United States, fears his transfer from the Fort Dix prison in the state of New Jersey to the Loretto federal correctional institution in Pennsylvania, his wife Viktoria Yaroshenko told TASS on Friday.

"Much farther and much worse [the conditions in Loretto than in Fort Dix]. He heard the worst things about this prison and asked our consuls to see to it that if he is to be transferred to Pennsylvania and this is a decided matter, there is also another prison there, Allenwood. He asked to be transferred to Allenwood," Yaroshenko’s wife said.

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US-jailed Russian pilot Yaroshenko to be transferred to Pennsylvania’s Loretto prison

As the jailed pilot’s wife said, the custody conditions in Allenwood are better and it is easier to get there.

"Route taxis run there whereas you can get to Loretto only on your own, a six hours’ ride from New York. I don’t know how we will get there," the pilot’s wife added.

It is unclear yet when the transfer will take place. Possibly, this will take place this week, she said.

Yaroshenko’s wife earlier told TASS the jailed pilot’s family hoped to visit him before the beginning of winter and filed documents for formalizing visas for the United States.

Situation around Yaroshenko’s transfer

Consul of Russia’s Consulate General in New York Artyom Tevanyan earlier told TASS that Yaroshenko would be shortly transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution Loretto in Pennsylvania.

Read also

Yaroshenko’s wife says her husband’s transfer to another US prison to complicate contacts

The Federal Correctional Institution Loretto (FCI Loretto) is a US low-security federal prison for male inmates, located 140 km east of Pittsburgh. It was built in 1985 and is designed to hold 988 inmates.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that Russia would continue seeking Yaroshenko’s return to his home country, in particular, on the basis of the 1983 Council of Europe’s Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.

According to the spokeswoman, the Russian national’s transfer to another US penitentiary institution "was explained by the care for the personal security of our fellow citizen who was recently attacked by another inmate."

Yaroshenko’s case

Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010, and was later secretly transferred to the United States. In April 2011, a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to smuggle a major drug shipment into the US, and sentenced him to 20 years behind bars. However, Yaroshenko pleaded not guilty, saying his arrest was a provocation and the case was fabricated.

Moscow has many times requested that Washington extradite the pilot to Russia.

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