Current:Home > StocksNavy officer who killed 2 in Japan car crash released from U.S. custody -Edge Finance Strategies
Navy officer who killed 2 in Japan car crash released from U.S. custody
View
Date:2025-04-16 07:31:06
A Navy officer who had been jailed in Japan over a car crash that killed two Japanese citizens was released from U.S. custody on Friday, one month after he was returned to the United States and placed in a federal prison, his family said.
Lt. Ridge Alkonis was ordered released by the U.S. Parole Commission, according to the Justice Department and a family statement that described the extra detention in a Los Angeles detention facility as "unnecessary." In total, he spent 537 days locked up either in Japan or the U.S.
"He is now back home with his family, where he belongs. We will have more to say in time, but for now, we are focused on welcoming Ridge home and respectfully ask for privacy," the statement said. Alkonis's family is from Southern California.
The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed in a separate statement that he had been released.
Alkonis was released from Japanese custody last month while serving a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the negligent driving deaths of a woman and her son-in-law in May 2021.
Alkonis' family has said the crash was an accident that was caused when he lost consciousness while on a trip to Mount Fuji. Japanese prosecutors maintained that he fell asleep while drowsy and shirked a duty to pull over as he became fatigued.
"But he wasn't tired," Alkonis' wife, Brittany Alkonis, told CBS News in a July 2022 interview. "He was fine and alert. He had even noticed that I was at risk of getting car sick and told me to be careful."
Neither the Japanese police nor the U.S. Navy conducted a full medical exam during the 26 days he was in detention before he was charged.
"I'm really angry," Brittany said in her interview. "We've been told that this is the most egregious action against a service member in 60 years."
He was transferred in December into the custody of the Bureau of Prisons through a Justice Department program that permits the relocation of prisoners convicted in another country back to their home nation. The program stipulates that the sentence cannot be longer than the one imposed by the foreign government.
His family said no prison time was appropriate and protested the detention in Los Angeles.
The Parole Commission, which determines the release dates in the case of returning Americans, said that it had concluded that Alkonis was lawfully convicted in Japan of negligent driving causing death or injury and that the conviction was most similar in the U.S. criminal code to involuntary manslaughter.
But though U.S. sentencing guidelines recommended that a sentence of ten to 16 months be served if Alkonis had been convicted of the same crime in the U.S., the Parole Commission also determined that the amount of time he had already been jailed would have exceeded the applicable guideline range.
"Thus, as of January 12, 2024, the Commission ordered that he be immediately released from custody based on the time he had already served," the Parole Commission said in a statement.
- In:
- Fatal Car Crash
- Navy
- Japan
veryGood! (631)
Related
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- This Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Star Is Leaving After Season 13
- Christine Quinn's Husband Christian Dumontet Arrested Again After Violating Protective Order
- Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater and the Entire Wicked Cast Stun in New Photos
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Pro-Trump attorney returns to Michigan to turn herself in on outstanding warrant
- I promised my kid I'd take her to see Bruce Springsteen. Why it took 12 years to get there
- Tennessee Senate advances nearly $2 billion business tax cut, refund to prevent lawsuit
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Trump’s lawyers keep fighting $454M fraud appeal bond requirement
Ranking
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- California voters approve Prop. 1, ballot measure aimed at tackling homeless crisis
- Michael Lorenzen to join Rangers on one-year deal, per reports
- Georgia Republicans reject Democrats’ final push for Medicaid expansion
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- In Japan, Ohtani’s ‘perfect person’ image could take a hit with firing of interpreter over gambling
- Major airlines want to hear how Boeing plans to fix problems in the manufacturing of its planes
- Virginia wildfire map: See where fires are blazing as some areas deal with road closures
Recommendation
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
Chick-fil-A adds 6 pizza items to menu at test kitchen restaurant: Here's what to know
‘Every shot matters to someone.’ Basketball fans revel in, and bet on, March Madness tournament
Members of WWII Ghost Army receive Congressional Gold Medals
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
Virginia Tech standout Elizabeth Kitley to miss NCAA women's tournament with knee injury
Explosive Jersey Shore Teaser Offers First Glimpse of Sammi and Ronnie Reunion
Dodgers vs. Padres highlights: San Diego wins wild one, Yamamoto struggles in MLB Korea finale