Former Marine Corps employee gets four-year sentence for selling marijuana on OkinawaPosted by On

Former Marine Corps employee gets four-year sentence for selling marijuana on Okinawa


CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A former U.S. government employee for the Marine Corps on Okinawa must serve more than four years in a Japanese prison for selling marijuana on the island.


Charles Yecla, 40, a civilian who worked for Marine Corps Installations Pacific at the time of his arrest last year, was sentenced Dec. 1 in Naha District Court to four years and four months in prison, the Okinawa Times reported Wednesday. He was also fined the equivalent of $9,600.


Yecla pleaded guilty Nov. 24, the first day of his trial, according to the report.


He was one of three American civilians employed by the Marines arrested between August and October 2019 for violating Japan’s Cannabis Control Act. He was accused of buying marijuana through the mail, growing it and selling it to the others.


His teenage son was also arrested as part of the police sting; information on the disposition of his case was unavailable from Japanese authorities.


Yecla “spread marijuana’s evil influence far and wide,” Chief Justice Hironobu Ono said at the sentencing, the Okinawa Times report said. “His behavior deserves the sentence.”


Marine Corps Installations Pacific spokesman 1st Lt. Tim Hayes confirmed Yecla’s employment but…

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