Russian pilot Yaroshenko Konstantin: biography, incident, circumstances of the case

Konstantin Yaroshenko is a pilot arrested in Liberia for preparing to transport a large batch of drugs. He was taken to the United States and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko: biography

Constantine was born on October 13, 68 in Rostov-on-Don. After graduating from the flying school in Krasnoe Kut, Saratov region in 1991, he worked as an An-32 pilot at a helicopter plant in Rostov-on-Don. Later he was engaged in cargo-and-passenger transportation on planes An-32 in the African countries. True, he himself stated that he did not transport cargo, but was an air expert.

In 1992, Yaroshenko Konstantin Vladimirovich married Victoria Viktorovna. The couple have a daughter, Ekaterina, born in 1997.

Sentence

07.09.11 Prith Bharara, New York's district federal prosecutor, announced that Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Manhattan's federal court for conspiring to import $ 100 million worth of cocaine into the US. He was found guilty in April 2011 after a three-week jury trial involving district judge Jed Rakoff.

Operation "Remorselessness"

The verdict to the drug smuggler is the culmination of the historic joint secret operation "Ruthlessness" conducted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Government of Liberia.

The public prosecutor of Manhattan, Prith Bharara, said that Konstantin Yaroshenko expressed his consent to participate in a large-scale international conspiracy aimed at turning Liberia into a drug distribution center. But the accomplices did not know that the officials, whose attempted bribery they had committed, cooperated with the DEA, which helped to neutralize the criminals. The verdict was the outcome of these joint efforts.

According to the evidence present in the case, and other documents, Yaroshenko Konstantin, a citizen of the Russian Federation, was a pilot and an expert in aviation transport, who transported thousands of kilograms of cocaine through Latin America, Africa and Europe. Podrosnik Yaroshenko Chigbo Peter Umeh from Nigeria was an intermediary who facilitated the shipment of many tons of drugs from Latin America to West Africa, from where the cargo had to be transported to Europe or other countries in Africa.

Attempt of bribery

Yaroshenko Konstantin and Umech Chigbo tried to bribe a high-ranking official in the government of Liberia in order to protect the supply of cocaine and use the country as a transshipment base for their drug trafficking operations. In particular, Umech met with the Director and Deputy Director of the National Security Agency of the Republic of Liberia (RLNSA), of which he knew that they were government officials. Both secret service chiefs collaborated secretly with the DEA. The director of RLNSA was also the son of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

During a series of meetings with the participation of Liberian officials, Konstantin Yaroshenko and Umech met with a confidential source cooperating with DEA (hereinafter CI), who posed as a business partner and an authorized representative of the director of RLNSA. In an effort to ensure the safe passage of lots of cocaine, they agreed to make payments in cash and drugs to officials and CI. The source told Yaroshenko and Umeha that part of the drugs, paid by the KP, will be transported from Liberia to Ghana, from where it will be imported to New York.

Confidential source

Yaroshenko and Umeh participated in a series of personal meetings and telephone conversations with government officials and CI, at least in connection with the three different supplies of cocaine that they tried to transport through Liberia:

• A consignment of cocaine weighing approximately 4,000 kg with a retail value of more than $ 100 million, which was to be transferred from Venezuela to Monrovia;
• A party weighing about 1,500 kg from Venezuela to Monrovia on a Panamanian aircraft;
• A consignment of a drug weighing about 500 kg, which was to be transported to the shores of Liberia by ship from Venezuela.

They agreed that after the cocaine would be transported to Liberia, part of the cargo, which is a payment of CI, will be transported to Ghana. There he was to be placed on a commercial flight to the United States.

During the meeting in Monrovia, Umech stated that 4000 kilograms of the drug intended for importation into Liberia were supplied and protected by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a recognized foreign terrorist group in the United States, whose goal is the forcible overthrow of the democratically elected government of the country.

MFA protests

May 28, 10 Konstantin Vladimirovich Yaroshenko was arrested. The government of the republic extradited him to the United States to bring charges of drug trafficking in the Southern District of New York.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that the United States violated international law. The Ministry accused the United States of kidnapping a Russian citizen in a third country. The actions of special services for the secret and forced transfer of a citizen of the Russian Federation to New York from Monrovia, from the point of view of Russian officials, were an open lawlessness.

The US State Department apologized for the misunderstanding. The spokesman said that the United States takes seriously the requirements for warning consulates and do everything possible to fulfill its international obligations, including the provision of consular access. But in this case there was an unfortunate mistake: the employee pressed the wrong button on the fax, and the notification was sent to Romania.

The final

In addition to the prison term, Judge Rakoff sentenced 42-year-old Yaroshenko to five years of supervision and to pay a special fee of $ 100.

The accomplices Umeh, Nathaniel French and Kudoufia Mavuko were brought to trial together with the Rostov pilot. He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. French and Mavuko were acquitted.

Mr. Bharara appreciated the work of the DEA Special Operations Department, DEA offices in Lagos, Warsaw, Bogota, Rome, the Department of International Affairs of the US Department of Justice and the US Department of State. He also thanked the US Embassy in Liberia, the Republic of Liberia and its National Security Agency and the Security Service of Ukraine for their efforts.

The prosecution was supported by deputy prosecutors, Christopher Lavigne, Randal Jackson, Michael Rosensaft and Jenna Dabs. The judge, the prosecutor and his deputies became the defendants of the "Magnitsky counter-list", by which they closed the entrance to Russia.

Konstantin Yaroshenko: biography of a prisoner

In 2013, the Southern District Prosecutor's Office officially stated that Yaroshenko was working with the arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been sentenced to 25 years in prison in the United States. Evidence of this is contained in the records of pilot talks with DEA agents. Konstantin Yaroshenko - a pilot whose biography is closely connected with Bout, for a long time engaged in smuggling and more than once spoke about his employer.

Russia accuses the US

In 2015, Russia accused the United States of ill-treatment of a convicted drug smuggler, since he was not provided with the necessary medical care.

The Ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov claimed that Yaroshenko had been experiencing health problems in recent years and had not received proper medical treatment from the authorities. In his opinion, this is a gross violation of the rights of the prisoner. Dolgov said he was not going to put up with this and would continue to insist on his right to proper medical care.

Russia filed a complaint about the health problems of the prisoner, including heart disease, to the US Embassy in Moscow on November 12, 2015.

Alexey Tarasov, the pilot's lawyer, sent a letter to the Red Cross requesting assistance in examining the patient by an independent specialist or a Russian doctor. He stated that the prisoner was running out of drugs, and he needed treatment for chronic diseases and pain relief.

January 21, 2016 Yaroshenko Constantine underwent an unscheduled operation in a hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, after repeatedly complained about health problems. Lawyer Alexei Tarasov, after a surgical intervention, claimed that the drug carrier did not receive timely postoperative medicines, since the staff of the penitentiary institution rejected his request.

Statement in the OSCE

On accusations of Russia that during the arrest the Russian was beaten and tortured, the Ambassador of the US Mission to the OSCE Daniel Baer stated that the pilot was fed, he was allowed to take a bath and sleep all 48 hours that he spent in custody in Liberia. 30.05.10 Yaroshenko Constantine was photographed and inspected - no traces of torture were found. Upon arrival in the United States, the arrested person filled out a form in which he indicated that he had no pain or trauma. No medical or dental record since that time has confirmed his claims of torture and beatings. Yaroshenko speaks English and regularly visits doctors, but has never complained officially. Representatives of Russia and his lawyer also meet regularly with the prisoner: on 26.10.15 he was visited by an employee of the consulate, and on 20.12.15 - by a lawyer.