MOSCOW, May 2 - RAPSI. The alleged accomplice of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempted drugs trafficking in the United States, has pleaded guilty in a New York court.

Marcel Acevedo Sarmiento is expected to be sentenced on December 10, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

Sarmiento's case is prosecuted by Judge Jed Rakoff, who presided over Yaroshenko's trial.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara announced Sarmientos extradition from Colombia in October after his arrest in the country.

Earlier, the U.S. authorities reported the arrest of another suspect in the case, Jorge Ivan Salazar Castano, who was also awaiting extradition.

Sarmiento and Castano were charged alongside Yaroshenko and other alleged criminals.

The U.S. Attorney's Office maintained that Yaroshenko agreed to transport four tonnes of cocaine from South America to Africa and then onwards to the United States. He arrived to Liberia in May 2010, allegedly to discuss the cost of his services with his Colombian partners.

Yaroshenko was offered $4.5 million for trafficking the cocaine from Venezuela to Liberia and another $1.8 million for trafficking drugs to Nigeria and then to Ghana. From Ghana, part of the drugs were to be transferred to the United States.

Yaroshenko was arrested together with Chigbo Peter Umeh in Liberia in May 2010. They were soon extradited to the United States. Umeh was sentenced to 30 years in prison on July 28, while Yaroshenko was given 20 years behind bars.