THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260475
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TOKYO LENGTH: 24 lines
Two U.S. Marines convicted of raping a Japanese schoolgirl appealed Thursday for shorter prison terms in a case that inflamed anti-U.S. sentiment on Okinawa.
Marine Pfcs. Rodrico Harp, 22, and Kendrick Ledet, 21, told a three-judge panel that they felt deep remorse for their crime, said Toshio Uema, their lawyer. The two men also said their prison terms were too harsh.
Harp, of Griffin, Ga., was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Ledet, of Waycross, Ga., got 6 1/2 years. The sentences were tough by Japanese standards.
A third convicted U.S. serviceman, Navy Seaman Marcus Gill, 23, of Woodville, Texas, did not appeal his seven-year sentence.
The three were convicted of abducting and raping a 12-year-old Okinawan girl in September. Prosecutors said they forced the girl into a car, bound and beat her and abandoned her on a deserted road. Only Gill admitted raping the girl. by CNB