US Navy lieutenant jailed over 500 days in Japan finally headed home
WASHINGTON – A Navy lieutenant held for 507 days in a Japanese jail over a fatal car crash while deployed to the largest overseas US naval base is headed back to America after Tokyo agreed to transfer custody to his home country, according to his family.
Lt. Ridge Alkonis was convicted of negligent driving resulting in death after the May 2021 crash in a soba noodle restaurant parking lot in the city of Fujinomiya killed two Japanese citizens — an 85-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man.
He had been serving a three-year prison sentence for the collision, which Alkonis claimed happened when he lost consciousness at the wheel due to altitude sickness from a family trip climbing the iconic Mt. Fuji earlier that day.
“I felt my body get weak, and my car drifted out of the lane, but I was able to quickly correct it,” he told a judge before his conviction, adding that he later blacked out, according to a report by Stars and Stripes.
But Japanese prosecutors had maintained that Alkonis fell asleep at the wheel after ignoring his duty to pull over while drowsy, resulting in the crash.
While the 35-year-old sailor will soon be back on American ground, it is unclear whether the details of his transfer agreement will require him to serve out the remainder of his sentence in a US prison.
In a statement, his family said they were “encouraged” by his return, “but cannot celebrate until Ridge has been reunited with his family.”
“We appreciate the efforts of the US government to effect this transfer and are glad that an impartial set of judiciary eyes will review his case for the first time,” they said. “When the Biden Administration is presented with the complete set of facts and circumstances surrounding the case, we’re confident they will promptly recognize the absurdity of Ridge’s conviction.”
“We trust that the DOJ will urgently wish to end this travesty of justice by immediately releasing Ridge, and we look forward to Ridge enjoying the holidays at home with his wife and children,” they added.
US service members, federal employees, and their families are regularly briefed on the heightened importance of following Japanese traffic laws.
During base orientation, new arrivals to the country are taught that they are “ambassadors” for the US — and that any court trouble there can threaten the strength of the US-Japan alliance.
While it is not uncommon for Japan to sentence US personnel convicted in their courts to serve prison sentences in the country, the Alkonis family had raised substantial publicity over the incident in American media, teaming up with lawmakers — including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — and rallying the White House to call for his release.
The efforts were apparently successful, with President Biden raising the case with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a May meeting.
Alkonis was assigned to Yokosuka Naval Base, about an hour south of Tokyo and two hours southeast of where the fatal collision occurred.
He is an undersea warfare and acoustic engineering specialist who had spent nearly seven years in Japan as both a civilian volunteer and naval officer.
