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Jailed Russian pilot dissatisfied with Danbury jail conditions — attorney

"As for the incarceration conditions, they are worse than in Fort Dix prison," the defense attorney said

Konstantin Yaroshenko Photo from family archive/TASS

Konstantin Yaroshenko

© Photo from family archive/TASS

ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 23. /TASS/. Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko who is serving a 20-year prison term in the US has expressed dissatisfaction with the incarceration conditions in a prison in Danbury, Connecticut, where he had been transferred from Fort Dix, New Jersey, the Russian national’s Defense Attorney Alexei Tarasov told TASS over the phone.

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"As for the incarceration conditions, they are worse than in Fort Dix prison. These issues are yet to be discussed. Yaroshenko … expressed his dissatisfaction with the confinement conditions," he said.

According to Tarasov, he plans to talk with Yaroshenko over the phone next week and visit him. To date, "diplomatic contacts have been established, a personal meeting with a Consulate General representative has been held," the attorney added.

He also noted that Yaroshenko’s transfer to Danbury could make communication with him more difficult. "I will have to travel there by plane. The nearest airport is in New York, so [I will have] to get to Connecticut from New York, which is not very convenient," Tarasov explained.

Konstantin Yaroshenko was convicted in the United States on September 7, 2017, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He pled innocent and described his arrest as a provocation. All charges against him were trumped up, he stated.

The pilot had been brought to the United States from Liberia, where he was arrested on May 28, 2010. Agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration operating under cover allegedly exposed Yaroshenko’s criminal intent to transport a large batch of cocaine.

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