LIMA, Peru â€"  A lawyer for Joran van der Sloot says Peru is evaluating a request by the United States to extradite the jailed Dutchman, who is the main suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba.

Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for killing a woman he met in a Lima casino.

The 24-year-old also faces extortion charges in Alabama for allegedly receiving $25,000 from Holloway's mother to tell her where to find the remains of her daughter, who was 18 when she disappeared while on vacation.

Attorney Maximo Altez said Monday the U.S. extradition request "is in the process of being evaluated" by Peruvian authorities.

The lawyer says his client fears extradition because U.S. prisons have a reputation for being "very hard" on inmates.