New York, July 29 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A Nigerian national, an accomplice of a Russian pilot convicted of drug dealing, has been sentenced to 30 years in jail by a New York court.
Chigbo Peter Umeh and 43-year-old Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko were detained in Liberia in May 2010 and extradited to the US on charges of smuggling cocaine.
Umeh, who has already served an eight-year sentence in a US jail, has admitted to drug trafficking but denied any intention of smuggling cocaine into the US.
He asked the judge to take it into consideration that he was a father of 14 children, including four without mothers.
The New York Federal Court in April convicted Yaroshenko of conspiring to smuggle drugs into the US. Sentencing was postponed till Sep 7.
Yaroshenko – who denies the charges – faces up to life in prison.
