BANGOR, Maine (AP)   A federal judge has rejected an accused heroin dealer’s request to move his trial because the entire jury pool in Bangor, Maine, was white.

Myron Crosby Jr. of Springfield, Massachusetts, told the judge he didn’t think he could get a fair trial because he’s African-American, and the jury is white. The 55-year-old told the judge he’d like to be tried by a jury of his peers in Massachusetts or Connecticut.

The Bangor Daily News reported that U.S. District Judge John Woodcock told Crosby that no one has ever interpreted “being tried by a jury of one’s peers as being tried by a jury of one’s race.”

The trial began Tuesday. Crosby is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess more than one kilogram of heroin.