Biography
Yū Kikumura was a member of the Japanese Red Army, an armed militant organization who while in the United States was arrested on April 12, 1988, at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike by a state trooper who thought he was acting suspiciously.
Kikumura was indicted on several counts of interstate transportation of explosive devices and passport violations. After a bench trial on stipulated facts, Kikumura was convicted on November 29, 1988, to serve 30 years in prison.
The 1990 nongovernmental tribunal discussed Yū Kikumura’s original thirty-year sentence in its criticism of disproportionate punishment. The later Tenth Circuit opinion explicitly dates his conviction to November 28, 1988. The reduced sentence of 262 months is distinct from the original thirty-year term.
The Tenth Circuit’s October 31, 2006 opinion records the November 28, 1988 conviction in its factual background.
In his 1993 reflection, Kikumura dated his arrival at USP Marion to March 9, 1989. This was a prison transfer during existing custody.
The FBI’s 1989 report dates Kikumura’s original thirty-year sentence to February 7, 1989. This precedes the later reduced 262-month term.
