The Fukuoka District Court on Wednesday sentenced the wife of a former Fukuoka High Court judge, who resigned over an information leakage scandal related to his wife's case, to two years in prison for threatening a woman she considered a rival in a love affair and the woman's husband last year.
"The defendant committed the crime over the long term and the crime was insidious, persistent and malicious," said Presiding Judge Toshiyuki Tani. "At this point, it is hard to believe that she is entirely remorseful or if she has taken responsibility for her actions."
Sonoko Furukawa, 40, was charged with e-mailing death threats to the woman and making prank calls to the workplace of the victim's husband, interfering with his work.
Prosecutors had demanded a three-year prison term for Furukawa. She had pleaded guilty to all the charges against her in previous hearings.