US Marine Gets 5-year Prison Term for Arson in JapanA US Marine was sentenced to five years in prison for arson on Thursday by a Japanese district court in the city of Naha, Kyodo reported.The 24-year-old Lance Cpl. Kurt Billie, posted at Camp Hansen in central Okinawa, had pleaded guilty to the charges, it reported Billie set fire to a restaurant in the town of Chatan in January with a lighter, causing the restaurant and another store to burn, the court ruling said. He also set fire to a blanket and other items in the same area of Chatan in January, causing partial or total destruction of five stores, it added. During the trial, Billie said he set fires to vent his frustrations. The US Marine Corps handed Billie over to the Japanese prosecutors after the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office indicted him on charges of arson on January 15. The US military had earlier refused to hand him over because under the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), only suspects in heinous crimes such as murder and rape are turned over to the Japanese authorities before their indictment. However, recent uproar in Okinawa over incidents involving the US military prompted the prosecutors to indict Billie only two days after police sent them the case. |
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