MOSCOW, May 24 (RAPSI) – Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova has forwarded an application to American Attorney General William Barr asking him to show a good will and extradite pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine, the document’s copy obtained by RAPSI reads.

Currently, the U.S. Justice Department is considering a request for Yaroshenko’s extradition lodged by the Russian Justice Ministry under the Council of Europe Convention of 1983 on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons. Based on the humanitarian mission, Moskalkova applies to Barr wishing he approves extradition of the convict taking into account a long term he has already served and progressive health deterioration, according to the ombudsman’s petition.

Moskalkova has repeatedly called on U.S. authorities to return Yaroshenko to his homeland because of his health condition.

In April, the ombudsman said that U.S. President Donald Trump refused to pardon the pilot.

Konstantin Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia on May 28, 2010 and flown to the United States soon afterwards. On September 7, 2011, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for colluding to smuggle cocaine into the United States. He was caught after replying to an advertisement posted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who claimed they were selling a cargo plane for $1.

He is serving his term in the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

In May 2016, a U.S. court dismissed his appeal for retrial. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said this is evidence that Yaroshenko’s conviction was politically influenced.