MOSCOW, June 6 (RAPSI) – Aleksei Tarasov, attorney of jailed Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko who is currently serving out a sentence for drug smuggling, says there is a provocateur in Fort Dix prison who’s endangering his client.

“My client contacted me two days ago. He expressed concern about a provocateur who’s spreading dubious rumors about Yaroshenko, says he threatened him,” the attorney told the Voice of Russia radio.

“Because of this, Yaroshenko was called before the warden and put in solitary, after the man in question said that he was threatened with murder. Yaroshenko is physically weakened by his stay in prison, he can’t threaten anyone. Besides, he’s acting like a model prisoner and avoids all conflict,” Tarasov added.

Official Moscow repeated expressed concern over Yaroshenko’s well being in prisom. Earlier, Foreign Ministry’s human rights envoy Konstantin Dolgov told RIA Novosti that US authorities continue to hinder the access of Russian medics to Yaroshenko.

Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia in an undercover operation in May 2010. In April 2011, Yaroshenko 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 US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who claimed 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. He said he did want to buy a plane, but did not plan to use it to transport drugs.

In June 2013, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York rejected his appeal against a 20-year sentence for drug trafficking. The court ruled that - under the law - neither cruelty on the part of the police nor kidnapping by government agents can be considered sufficient grounds for appealing a verdict.