Konstantin Yaroshenko is a pilot arrested in Liberia for preparing to transport a large batch of drugs. He was brought to the United States and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko: biography
Konstantin was born on October 13, 68 in Rostov-on-Don. After graduating from the flight school in Krasny 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 An-32 aircraft in 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
09/07/11 Preet Bharara, New York’s District Attorney, announced that Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko was sentenced to 20 years in a Manhattan federal court for conspiring to import $ 100 million worth of cocaine into the United States. He was found guilty in April 2011 after a three-week jury trial with District Judge Jed Rakoff.
Operation Ruthlessness
The drug smuggler's verdict is the culmination of the historic joint covert operation "Ruthlessness" by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Liberian government.
Manhattan prosecutor Preet Bharara said Konstantin Yaroshenko agreed 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 they attempted to bribe collaborated with the DEA, which helped to neutralize the criminals. The verdict was the result of these joint efforts.
According to the evidence in the case and other documents, Konstantin Yaroshenko, a citizen of the Russian Federation, was a pilot and aviation transport specialist who transported thousands of kilograms of cocaine through Latin America, Africa and Europe. Companion Yaroshenko Chigbo Peter Umek from Nigeria was an intermediary who facilitated the shipment of many tons of the drug from Latin America to West Africa, from where the cargo was supposed to go to Europe or other African countries.
Bribe attempt
Konstantin Yaroshenko and Umech Chigbo tried to bribe a senior government official in Liberia to protect cocaine shipments and use the country as a transshipment base for its drug trafficking operations. In particular, Umech met with the director and deputy director of the National Security Agency of the Republic of Liberia (RLNSA), about whom he knew that they were government officials. Both intelligence chiefs secretly collaborated with DEA. The director of the RLNSA was also the son of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
During a series of meetings with Liberian officials, Konstantin Yaroshenko and Umech got acquainted with a confidential source collaborating with DEA (hereinafter CI), who posed as a business partner and confidant of the director of RLNSA. In an effort to ensure the safe passage of cocaine, they agreed to make cash and drug payments to officials and CIs. A source told Yaroshenko and Umech that part of the drugs paid by KP will be transported from Liberia to Ghana, from where it will be imported to New York.
Confidential source
Yaroshenko and Umech participated in a series of face-to-face meetings and telephone conversations with government officials and CI, at least in connection with three different shipments 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 supposed to be transported from Venezuela to Monrovia;
- parties weighing about 1, 500 kg from Venezuela to Monrovia on a Panamanian aircraft;
- a batch of drugs weighing about 500 kg, which was supposed to be transported to the shores of Liberia on a ship from Venezuela.
They agreed that after cocaine was transported to Liberia, part of the cargo, which is a payment of CI, would be transported to Ghana. There he was to be placed on a commercial flight to the United States.
During a meeting in Monrovia, Umech stated that 4, 000 kg of drugs destined for importation into Liberia were supplied and protected by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), a US-recognized foreign terrorist group whose purpose is to violently overthrow a democratically elected government.
Foreign Ministry protest
05/28/10 Yaroshenko Konstantin Vladimirovich was arrested. The government of the republic extradited him to the United States to bring drug trafficking charges 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 abducting a Russian citizen in a third country. The actions of special services for secretly and forcibly transferring a Russian citizen to New York from Monrovia, from the point of view of Russian officials, were open lawlessness.
The US State Department apologized for the misunderstanding. A spokeswoman said the United States is serious about consular alert requirements and is committed to meeting its international obligations, including providing consular access. But in this case, an unfortunate error occurred: the employee pressed the wrong button on the fax, and a 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 special duties in the amount of $ 100.
Partners Umech, Nathaniel French and Kudufiya Mavuko appeared in court with a Rostov pilot. Umeha was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. French and Mavuko were acquitted.
Mr. Bharara praised the work of the DEA Special Operations Division, the DEA offices in Lagos, Warsaw, Bogota, Rome, the Office 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 Rosenzaft and Jenna Debs. The judge, the prosecutor and his deputies became defendants in the “Magnitsky’s counter-list”, with whom he was denied entry to Russia.
Konstantin Yaroshenko: biography of a prisoner
In 2013, the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office officially stated that Yaroshenko worked with Viktor Bout, a 25-year-old prisoner in the United States. Evidence of this is contained in the recordings of the pilot's conversations with DEA agents. Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot whose biography is closely related to Booth, has been smuggling for a long time and has talked about his employer more than once.
Russia blames USA
In 2015, Russia accused the United States of mistreating a convicted drug smuggler because he did not receive the necessary medical care.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Konstantin Dolgov argued that Yaroshenko had experienced health problems in recent years and did not receive proper medical assistance from the authorities. In his opinion, this is a gross violation of the rights of a prisoner. Dolgov said he was not going to put up with this and would continue to insist on his right to adequate medical care.
Russia filed a complaint about the prisoner's health problems, including heart disease, to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on November 12, 2015.
Alexey Tarasov, the pilot’s lawyer, sent a letter to the Red Cross asking for assistance in examining the patient by an independent specialist or a Russian doctor. He stated that the prisoner was running out of drugs and needed treatment for chronic illness and pain relief.
January 21, 2016 Konstantin Yaroshenko underwent an unscheduled operation in a hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, after repeatedly complaining about health problems. Lawyer Aleksey Tarasov after surgery stated that the drug carrier did not receive postoperative drugs on time, as the staff of the prison rejected his request.
