CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (CBS Charlotte) — A University of North Carolina professor is demanding a raise – while he is behind bars in an Argentina prison.

According to The Charlotte Observer, physics professor Paul Frampton, who is accused of trying to smuggle cocaine out of Argentina, wrote a letter to Provost Bruce Carney this month saying that his salary should be twice that of the $107,000 he was previously making.

“[I]t is definitely chutzpah,” Frampton told the Observer. “But the facts show that I deserve it.”

Math professor Mark Williams, who represented Frampton at a grievance hearing, said it was bad timing on the physics professor’s part to ask for a raise.

“I do think it’s reasonable to say that it’s obvious that his salary is far too low,” Williams told the Observer. “But no, of course I don’t think it’s a good idea at all for Paul to be asking for a raise while he’s in prison.”

The 68-year-old Frampton was arrested Jan. 23 at a Buenos Aires airport after being accused of trying to fly back to the United States with 2 kilograms of cocaine.

Frampton maintains his innocence, saying he flew to Argentina to meet a woman he met online only to bet met by a man who told him to carry a suitcase filled with cocaine.

The Observer reports that Frampton was placed on personal leave so the university didn’t have to pay him.