A letter to President Donald Trump asking for clemency was a desperate gesture from Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States for preparing to transport drugs. As the convicted man's wife Viktoria Yaroshenko told Interfax, he can no longer fight for acquittal. Izvestia wrote about the letter asking for clemency earlier.

"Konstantin feels even worse than before. He is morally broken, his spirit is down after his mother's death. His physical and moral condition are in an extremely dire state. And Kostya does not receive medical care in prison," his wife said. According to her, Yaroshenko previously did not admit guilt, was ready to fight for himself and refused to ask for clemency, but he can no longer fight and "endure all this."

Doctors in prison refused to give Yaroshenko the sedative he asked for after learning of his mother's death, and offered him "only psychotropic drugs," the prisoner's wife said.

Yaroshenko was arrested on May 28, 2010, in Liberia on charges of preparing to transport a large consignment of cocaine, and then deported to the United States. On September 7, 2011, he was sentenced to imprisonment.

Pilot Yaroshenko's wife comments on his request for pardon