Navy lieutenant sentenced in Japan causes outcry among family, U.S. lawmakers

The family of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis, now imprisoned in Japan following a fatal car crash, is calling for his release, with the aid of bipartisan lawmakers in the U.S.

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

The PHF said in a document describing Alkonis' situation other military families are now "acutely aware that this terrible situation could have been them" and are in "fear" that SOFA may be allegedly violated again in the future.

Alkonis, who lived with his family in Yokosuka, had just finished a hike on the famed Mount Fuji shortly before he was scheduled to be deployed on the U.S.S. Benfold. Outside his military duties, he was also part of a mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.