A Navy officer who was imprisoned by Japan after being involved in a fatal car accident has been released after nearly 18 months.
While serving at the Japanese naval base in 2021, Lt. Ridge Alkonis fell asleep at the wheel of a vehicle that hit three pedestrians, two of which died. After receiving what some viewed to be a harsh punishment by Japanese officials, Alkonis was released by the U.S. parole commission Friday morning, reuniting with his wife and three children in California, according CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“This morning, after 537 days of unnecessary detention, the U.S. Parole Commission ordered Lt. Ridge Alkonis’ immediate release,” the Alkonis family said in a statement, according to Tapper. “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.”
Alkonis was transferred from Japan’s custody to the U.S. in mid-December, and had been serving in federal prison in Los Angeles, California, according to CNN. The soldier was granted full parole by the U.S. on Friday morning, with no supervision upon his release. (RELATED: Sen. Mike Lee Torches Key World Ally On Senate Floor For ‘Unjustly’ Imprisoning Navy Lieutenant)
https://t.co/MXHKeJn4Nq pic.twitter.com/rOHpW3y8cY
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 12, 2024
The officer was convicted in 2022 for negligent driving because he didn’t pull over when feeling “drowsy,” according to The New York Times. Alkonis was serving out a three-year sentence.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee was a vocal critic of the Japanese treatment of Alkonis, arguing that the officer did not receive typical treatment in custody. Alkonis was reportedly held in solitary confinement and wasn’t taken to the hospital after the car crash.
Lee demanded that Alkonis be released back to the U.S. to continue out the remainder of his sentence, threatening Japanese officials if they did not comply with renegotiating Japan’s Status of Forces Agreement. The senator praised Alkonis’ release in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
“At last, Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis is free! He was imprisoned for 537 days—wrongly—based on a Japanese conviction in Japanese court,” Lee wrote. “No civilized nation should ever imprison anyone for a tragic car accident caused by an unforeseeable medical emergency. Glad he’s home!”
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