Tia Stokes dances as she holds a “Bring Ridge Home” sign and waits on 500 South for President Joe Biden’s motorcade to pass on the way to the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he will deliver remarks, in Salt Lake City on Aug. 10, 2023. Stokes is Ridge Alkonis’ cousin.
Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Japan has released U.S. Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis to U.S. custody after he was held in a Japanese prison for 17 months for his role in a car crash that killed two people near Mount Fuji.
Alkonis said he lost consciousness after driving down from a hike on the famous mountain and may have suffered from altitude sickness, but a Japanese judge decided that Alkonis had fallen asleep at the wheel and lost control of his vehicle, which plowed into pedestrians and parked cars in a restaurant parking on May 29, 2021, and led to the deaths of an 85-year-old Japanese woman and her 54-year-old son-in-law.
The judge sentenced Alkonis to three years in prison for negligence, but his family maintained that the sentence was not justifiable.
The United States and Japan completed an international prisoner transfer agreement, Alkonis’ family said in a statement. The U.S. Department of Justice now has jurisdiction over Alkonis and will review his case to determine whether he should be released or held longer.
“After 507 days, Lt. Ridge Alkonis is on his way home to the United States. We are encouraged by Ridge’s transfer back to the United States but cannot celebrate until Ridge has been reunited with his family,” the family statement said.
Alkonis is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He took a Bible and Book of Mormon with him when he reported to prison in July 2022, and he and his family said they have relied on their faith for peace and hope.
His wife, Brittany, met with U.S. President Joe Biden after his State of the Union address in February and helped lead a substantial awareness campaign to call for her husband’s release.
Biden raised the case with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a meeting in May.
It was not immediately clear where U.S. officials would take Alkonis after he arrives in the United States or if the transfer terms require him to spend more time in custody.
“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,” the family said. “We trust that the (Department of Justice) 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.”
Alkonis has three young children.
🚨Japan has released Navy Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis to U.S. custody as part of an international prisoner transfer agreement. @TheJusticeDept now has jurisdiction over LT Alkonis and will determine any further incarceration. pic.twitter.com/Aks0vsITvM
— Andrew Eubanks (@EubanksAndrew) December 14, 2023
Japanese officials did not give Alkonis any medical treatment or a medical exam after the car crash, but U.S. Navy investigators later determined that Alkonis suffered from acute mountain sickness and lost consciousness. His wife and children, who were with him in the vehicle, said that he was not sleepy and appeared to black out. They said that once he passed out, he was unresponsive to their screams and one daughter’s kicks. He remained unconscious even during the crash itself.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee called the crash a result of an unforeseeable medical emergency.
Family and friends said Alkonis is a good officer, remarkably kind man and loving young father who interrupted his education at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was a left-handed pitcher on the baseball team, to serve a two-year religious mission to Japan for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
During the court case surrounding the crash, Alkonis testified that he lost consciousness due to acute mountain sickness, common at high altitude.
Alkonis had served in Japan for seven years for the Navy, speaks Japanese and his family said he had loved his time in the country and among its people.
“I am so sorry for all the pain and suffering I caused because of this accident,” Alkonis said in court.
He paid a record $1.65 million in restitution to the Japanese family. Some of the money came from insurance. More than $500,000 came from family and friends, some of whom tapped into retirement funds or mortgaged their homes to help. His apology and restitution payment, or gomenasai, is customary in Japan and regularly leads to suspended sentences.
Alkonis is a specialist in underseas warfare and acoustic engineering.