ROSTOV-ON-DON, September 18. /TASS/. There is no reason to transfer Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, jailed in the United States, to a private prison, the pilot’s wife, Viktoria told TASS on Friday.
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According to her, the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, earlier requested that the Russian be transferred to a private prison.
"No decision has been announced yet. We don’t get why they decided to transfer Konstantin to another prison. All the guards he talked to were surprised to hear about it. Even they recognize that there is no reason to transfer him to another prison," Viktoria pointed out.
Yaroshenko’s lawyer Alexei Tarasov told TASS that he was unaware why his client was to be transferred from the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution to a private prison.
"As of now, no one knows where they want to move him, neither our embassy nor consulate has any information. When Konstantin was transferred from the Fort Dix prison, they listed three possible facilities where he could be moved. Our diplomats asked to transfer him somewhere close to New York. They made concessions and moved him to Danbury. But now, there is no information, no one understands what’s going on," the jailed Russian’s wife said.
Yaroshenko earlier filed a request for early release, citing the coronavirus threat. In April, the prison authorities informed the Russian that his request had been denied.
Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in May 2010, and was later clandestinely transferred to the United States. In September 2011, he was found guilty of conspiring to smuggle a major cocaine shipment into the US, and sentenced to 20 years behind bars. However, Yaroshenko pleaded not guilty, saying that his arrest was a setup and the case was fabricated.