A Japanese high court on Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling sentencing the head of the Kudokai crime syndicate to death over four cases of attacks on ordinary citizens.
The Fukuoka High Court handed down a life sentence for 77-year-old Satoru Nomura, who heads the Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture-based gang.
Meanwhile, the court upheld the Fukuoka District Court's ruling of life imprisonment for Fumio Tanoue, 67, the gang's second-in-command.