US Navy officer recently transferred from Japanese prison has been released from US prison
By Jake Tapper, CNN
(CNN) — US Navy officer Lt. Ridge Alkonis, who was jailed in Japan for negligent driving that resulted in the death of two people and was recently transferred to the United States has been paroled and released from US prison, his family told CNN.
The US Parole Commission ordered Alkonis’ parole and immediate release with no supervision on Friday morning, his family said.
Alkonis, who was stationed in Japan, was sentenced to three years in a Japanese prison in October 2021 for negligent driving resulting in the death of two people and injuries to a third person in May 2021. He said he suffered from acute mountain sickness as he was driving with his family from Mount Fuji, which caused him to lose consciousness. That argument was rejected by the court. His appeal was denied in July 2022.
Alkonis’ family argued he was ill, not negligent, and therefore committed no crime. They have also noted that they offered the victims’ families over $1 million in restitution, as is customary in Japan.
The Alkonis family had claimed that there have been violations of the status of forces agreement between the United States and Japan during the proceedings of the case.
The family pushed for him to be transferred back to the US under the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, which would allow him to serve out his sentence there.
Under the terms of the treaty, which Japan joined in 2003, “The prisoner, the Government of Japan and the U.S. government must all agree to the transfer,” according to the US Embassy in Japan. “Transfers can take 2 years or longer from the time the process begins,” it notes.
As CNN previously reported, Alkonis was remanded to US custody after direct engagement by Vice President Kamala Harris and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
The-CNN-Wire
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