MOSCOW, February 24 (RAPSI) - The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed Russia’s appeal to present an argument in favor of a new trial in the case of pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the US for plotting to smuggle drugs, TASS reports Tuesday citing the court.

Judge Jed S. Rakoff noted that earlier, Russia filed a motion with the court to consider its argument in favor of a new trial in the Yaroshenko case. Specifically, the argument includes an expert review by a third party not involved in the case.

Judge Rakoff said the document was filed in an untimely manner and expressed doubt that the measure would be successful. He said that currently it was not reasonable for the court to consider the arguments listed in the review. He also stated that Russia wished to present arguments on issues that have already been heard and that the court did not deem it necessary to retry the case.

In the spring of 2014, Yaroshenko’s lawyer, Alexei Tarasov, filed a motion with the court to rehear the case. The defense lawyer claimed that he had obtained new evidence that the Russian national was not guilty.

Konstantin Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia on May 28, 2010 and flown to the United States soon afterwards. He was convicted on September 7, 2011.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency’s undercover agents allegedly found evidence of Yaroshenko colluding to smuggle cocaine into the United States. Tarasov claims that the DEA agents used unlawful tactics and provoked his client when collecting evidence.

This was the first case in which US secret services detained a Russian national outside US territory and secretly delivered him to the United States.