A former police officer was given a suspended sentence Sept. 12 at the Tokyo District Court for framing a man on charges of drug possession in April to boost his job performance record.
Presiding Judge Toshiyuki Kosaka told Ryoichi Akamatsu, 25, that he should recollect his original motivation for becoming a police officer and consider why he committed such an absurd crime. Akamatsu, standing stiffly and dressed in a dark suit, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, suspended for four years, for abuse of public authority and for illegal possession of stimulants.
The former Tokyo officer committed the crime with 40-year-old Shuji Kawaguchi, a senior officer at the time. They were also accompanied by a civilian, Satoru Ohara, 33, who is a friend of Kawaguchi, the prosecution said.
According to the ruling, on April 18 Ohara lured an acquaintance, a 41-year-old factory worker, into a restaurant parking lot in Koto Ward, Tokyo. He then planted 0.3 gram of stimulant drugs in the worker's car. Kawaguchi and Akamatsu arrived and questioned the man, leading to his arrest for drug possession, the court found.
The man was released 13 hours later after officers at Joto Police Station found him to have been entrapped. Kosaka said Akamatsu undermined public trust in the police by participating in the plan and attempting to falsely improve his work performance through a fake arrest.
He added that the existence of such officers highlights the collapse of morality among the entire force.