MOSCOW, October 25 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Justice Ministry filed another request for the extradition of Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot who was sentenced to 20 years in jail in the US for involvement in conspiring to smuggle drugs, the Foreign Ministry’s human rights executive Konstantin Dolgov told RIA Novosti on Friday.

“The US authorities said that the request will be reviewed in 3 months,” – Dolgov said. The diplomat added that the Kremlin is pushing for a priority review, which would allow them to avoid having to wait two years after the initial extradition request was rejected.

Yaroshenko and Nigerian Chigbo Peter Umeh were arrested in Liberia in an undercover operation in May 2010. Shortly after, both were flown to the United States. In April 2011, Yaroshenko was sentenced for colluding to smuggle cocaine into the United States. He was caught after replying to an advertisement posted by a group of DEA agents, who claimed that they were selling a cargo plane for $1.

Yaroshenko pleaded not guilty during the trial. He said his poor English prevented him from understanding the nature of the deal with the DEA agents. He claimed that he did want to buy a cargo plane, but did not plan to use it to transport drugs.