Navy officer serving 3-year sentence in Japan for deadly crash is now in U.S. custody, his family says

A Navy officer jailed in Japan over a deadly car crash that killed two Japanese citizens has been transferred into U.S. custody and is being returned to the United States, his family said Thursday.

Lt. Ridge Alknois had been serving a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the negligent driving deaths of an elderly woman and her son-in-law in May 2021.

"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, based in Dana Point, California, said in a statement to The Associated Press.