US releases naval officer jailed after causing fatal crash in Japan

Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis, a naval officer, was released from prison on Friday, about a month after he was transferred to the United States following his conviction in Japan for causing a fatal traffic accident, a case that had strained relations between the two countries put.

He had served half of his three-year sentence in Japan and was expected to serve the remainder in the United States, with an American agency determining the length of his incarceration. That agency, the U.S. Parole Commission, ruled Friday that he had already served a prison sentence that was long enough. He was released the same day, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.

An attorney for the lieutenant's family declined to comment.

In May 2021, Lt. Alkonis, who was stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo, was driving a Toyota vehicle after visiting Mount Fuji with his wife and three children. Lt. Alkonis “fell asleep” at the wheel, according to an accident report obtained by The New York Times. His silver Toyota veered off the road and collided with five cars outside a restaurant, fatally crushing two people.

Lieutenant Alkonis pleaded guilty to negligent driving in an attempt to receive a suspended sentence. He also paid the victims' families $1.6 million and wrote letters of apology. During the trial he said he had suffered from 'acute mountain sickness' just before the accident, but the judge disagreed. The victims' families asked the judge to impose a “severe sentence.”

Lieutenant Alkonis' family and supporters maintained that he had suffered from altitude sickness and that he had been denied a fair trial in a foreign legal system that placed little weight on his guilty plea and repeated apologies. They sought help from President Biden and other lawmakers for his transfer and release.

Mr. Biden was personally involved in the talks to secure Lt. Alkonis' release, administration officials said last year. The talks were highly sensitive given U.S. officials' desire to avoid offending the Japanese government by suggesting they disrespected the country's legal system. Lieutenant Alkonis was released under a prisoner transfer program between the two countries.

Mike Ives And Michael D. Shear reporting contributed.