Washington, Nov 3 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Former Ukrainian prime minister Pavlo Lazarenko, whose prison term in the US expired Thursday, will still remain behind bars until his immigration status is settled, according to US immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) authorities.

Lazarenko is being held at ICE's detention facility in Adelanto, California, where he will remain until an immigration court decides on his status, an ICE spokesperson said.

Lazarenko's nine-year sentence for extortion and money laundering expired. But at the moment of his release from federal correctional institution (FCI) terminal island in California, he was taken into custody by ICE, the spokesperson said.

Such a transfer is standard procedure upon the release of a prison inmate who is a foreign citizen. There are no new charges against Lazarenko, he said.

The US has rejected repeated extradition requests from Ukraine, citing the lack of an extradition treaty between the two countries.