The referee involved in Italy’s controversial elimination from the 2002 World Cup will be sentenced next month in his New York drug smuggling case.

Federal prosecutors said Thursday that Byron Moreno faces up to 20 years in prison. His sentencing is set for May 20 in Brooklyn.

Moreno was arrested last year at Kennedy Airport after arriving on a commercial flight from his native Ecuador. Authorities say they discovered bags of heroin attached to his body during a routine search.

He pleaded guilty in January.

Moreno became a hated figure in Italy after several contentious decisions in the second-round match of the 2002 World Cup.