A 21-year-old US Marine on trial for allegedly raping a Filipino woman says the case has ruined his life and career.

I think it’s horrible what I’ve been accused of, Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, of St. Louis, Mo., said in response to questions submitted through his lawyer by The Associated Press.

“This place has taken a year off of my life that I can never get back and I just hope the lies will stop and the people will start to see the truth,” Smith said. Smith, along with three other Marines accused in the case, refused to enter pleas to the rape charges, so the judge entered not guilty pleas on their behalf. If convicted, they face a maximum of 40 years in jail.

He refused to answer questions related to the case because court proceedings are still ongoing. He has been in the custody of the US Embassy.“My career and my life in general has come to a screeching halt,” he said. Smith said his family and friends initially thought he was joking when he first told them he had been charged with rape. “They are all praying for the day that I tell them I’m cleared of all of these allegations and that I will be coming home to see them,” said Smith, the second of three sons of a nurse and a firefighter. Smith, during an earlier interview in court said it would be too expensive for his parents to fly to the Philippines for the trial. But he said he calls home a lot to talk to family and friends.

A 22-year-old woman has accused Smith of raping her in a moving van at the Subic Bay free port, a former US Naval base, on November 1 while Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier, Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood and Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis allegedly cheered him on.

She testified she resisted but was drunk and too weak to stop the assault.