Iowa campaign events are falling as fast as the snow as the state readies for record-cold caucuses

• January 13, 2024

By MEG KINNARD

DES MOINES, Iowa — Campaign events have continued to fall as swiftly as the Iowa snow as wintry weather hampers the leadoff GOP caucus state, with Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump all shuffling their schedules ahead of Monday’s presidential votes.

Prolonged freezing temperatures, combined with strong winds, foreshadow possibly life-threatening conditions on the night that Republican voters are set to gather to make their pick for their 2024 nominee.

Iowans are accustomed to the cold, though the latest winter wave, combined with temperatures that threaten to dip deeper into negative territory in the coming days, could mean unprecedented conditions for caucus night itself. Early into next week, forecasters said significant winds would make things feel as cold as 45 degrees below zero, a record-breaking forecast that could keep potential voters at home.

“This is kind of what it means to live in Iowa, in the middle of winter, but two snowstorms back-to-back feels like a little much,” said Jillian McKee, of Des Moines, as she walked her Shiba Inu named Bear on Friday morning in the pouring snow. “Usually, I’m just used to one a week.”

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, center, accompanied by his press secretary Bryan Griffin, right, departs after speaking at a Northside Conservatives Club Meeting at The District in Ankeny, Iowa, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

McKee said she still plans to show up on Monday night and is leaning toward caucusing for Haley.

Haley pulled down a trio of events that had been slated for Friday in central and eastern areas of the state, shifting them instead to tele-town halls at which, unlike her in-person events held earlier this week, Haley took questions from caucusgoers.

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Volunteers for AFP Action, the political arm of the powerful Koch network that’s supporting Haley, were out meeting with caucusgoers in the storm on Friday. Senior adviser Tyler Raygor noted that “knocking doors in snow takes more time,” but that it also made it more likely that people were at home.

DeSantis postponed four events on Friday that had been planned for cities further from Des Moines, citing unsafe weather conditions.” He did campaign earlier Friday north of the capital city with Gov. Kim Reynolds, saying he was impressed with those who turned out.

Less than an hour before DeSantis’ event with Reynolds, Iowa’s state patrol posted a warning about the weather on social media. “Please, don’t put yourself or others in danger,” it said, adding that road conditions were “extremely dangerous!”

The National Weather Service’s Des Moines office, meanwhile, posted white-out conditions of jack-knifed tractor-trailers littering interstates as much of the state was under a blizzard warning.

Trump — who has not stumped in Iowa in the closing week, instead choosing to make court appearances in Washington and New York — on Friday shifted a handful of rally events planned for over the weekend in central and western Iowa to tele-rallies, with his campaign posting the adjusted schedule “out of an abundance of caution amid severe weather advisories.”

Trump was still slated to appear at an in-person rally on Sunday in Indianola, south of Des Moines. Earlier Friday, his campaign appeared determined to hold all of the weekend’s rallies as scheduled.

“Wear a coat,” Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita quipped when asked about concerns about the weather over the next few days. He also noted that the campaign has “contingencies” in place, including drivers to get people to caucus sites.

“It’s old school, you know — poll workers and people who pick up people and drive ’em to the polls, so we have all of that stuff planned,” he said.

On turnout, LaCivita said he felt confident the “enthusiasm” that Trump’s large events have generated would translate into caucusgoers’ commitment to sticking out the cold weather.

“You guys have seen the lines that people have stood just to go to a rally,” he said. “I’m not worried about lines at a caucus site.”

Another presidential candidate, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, canceled an event Tuesday morning, saying it was “effectively impossible to safely get from Des Moines to Coralville” — hours after criticizing Haley for calling off her Monday event in Sioux City.

On Friday, Ramaswamy appeared poised to keep to his campaign schedule, posting on X that “George Washington braved the weather to cross the Delaware” and that he would stay on the trail “for as long as we can (asterisk)physically(asterisk) make it.”

Never Back Down, the super PAC orchestrating much of DeSantis’ on-the-ground efforts, said its staff had been in close touch with tens of thousands of committed Iowa supporters, whom it expected to turn out regardless of Monday night’s conditions.

The scheduling of the caucuses has thrown the time-tested process more to nature’s whims than others in the past. Last summer, the Iowa Republican Party’s state central committee voted unanimously for the third Monday in January. The 15th, which falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is earlier by several weeks than the past three caucuses, though not as early as 2008 when they were held just three days into the new year.

With the storm bearing down and the almost other-worldly cold predicted to set in thereafter, Iowa Republicans said Friday said there were no plans to change the timing of this year’s caucuses.

Iowa GOP spokesperson Kush Desai said the party has held caucuses “through all sorts of weather events before.” Desai said state Republicans were keeping an eye on things but “not entertaining anything drastic yet” in terms of postponing any votes.

“There’s no doubt on our end about our commitment to keeping Iowa first in the nation and maintaining Iowa’s critical voice, not just for Iowa but for the heartland, in the presidential nominating process,” Desai said. “Even through the winter.”

National Weather Service data shows there has never been a colder Iowa caucus night than what’s forecast for Jan. 15. The previous coldest was in 2004, when the high temperature for that year’s Jan. 19 caucuses was 16 degrees.

McKee, who was walking her dog outside Friday, had words of apology to the visiting journalists and politicos who traveled to Iowa, only to get socked with the torrential snow and bone-chilling temperatures.

“This is definitely making it a little more complicated for everybody, especially all the out-of-towner people,” McKee said as wind and snow whipped around her. “I’m sorry that you’re coming into the Iowa caucuses in a big ol’ Iowa snowstorm, but it seems right on brand.”

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Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut, Jill Colvin and Mark Vancleave in Des Moines contributed to this report.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

​ Orange County Register 

Fox News stops running My Pillow ads in payment dispute

• January 13, 2024

By Steve Karnowski | Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — MyPillow chief executive and prominent election denier Mike Lindell said Friday that Fox News has stopped running his company’s commercials, disputing the network’s assertion that it is simply because he hasn’t paid his bills.

Lindell went public by tweeting that that Fox, which had been one of MyPillow’s biggest advertising outlets, had canceled him. He said in his tweet that he didn’t know why but that he suspected that the network was trying to silence him. Fox denied that.

Losing Fox was just the latest in a series of financial and legal setbacks for Minnesota-based MyPillow and Lindell, who continues to propagate former President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him, in part by rigged voting machine systems. Several big-box retailers, including Walmart, have discontinued his products, and lawyers who were defending him against defamation lawsuits by voting machine companies quit.

“As soon as their account is paid, we would be happy to accept their advertising,” Fox spokeswoman Irena Briganti said.

“They’re 100% lying,” Lindell said an interview with The Associated Press. But he acknowledged that MyPillow owes money to Fox. He put the figure at $7.8 million, but he insisted that the sum is within his credit line with the network. He said MyPillow has long spent an average of $1 million a week to run its ads on Fox. And he said the network had long allowed him 12 weeks of credit until it recently cut that to eight weeks.

“This has nothing to do with money. That’s a fact,” Lindell said.

Lindell said he believes Fox wants to silence him “because I want to secure our election platforms.” And he said he suspects the network is sore because his Lindell TV/FrankSpeech online channel recently hired former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, whose debut show on Monday night featured an interview with Trump, who made further false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

Fox last April agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to avert a trial in the voting machine company’s lawsuit that would have exposed how the network promoted lies about the 2020 election on shows by Dobbs and other hosts. Fox canceled Dobbs’ show three years ago.

Lindell acknowledged in an interview in October that he owed two law firms that were defending him against lawsuits by Dominion and Smartmatic millions of dollars that he couldn’t pay, which is why they quit. He said MyPillow had been “decimated.”

But Lindell insisted Friday that MyPillow is “doing great.” He said it’s still running ads on another conservative network, Newsmax, and on his own platforms. But he conceded that losing Fox will hurt the business and said he would run his ads there again if Fox would take them.

“Obviously, it would be great if Fox said, ‘Hey, come back,’ ” Lindell said.

​ Orange County Register 

Peter Lofthouse leaves Newport Harbor to become football coach at El Toro

• January 13, 2024

Peter Lofthouse has stepped down as the football head coach at Newport Harbor after six seasons and will become the head coach at El Toro.

Lofthouse coached Newport Harbor to a CIF Southern Section championship and to two semifinals appearances.

He is an alumnus of El Toro, where he played football when Mike Milner was the coach at the Lake Forest school.

“I live in Lake Forest,” Lofthouse said Friday. “I’m  not a good golfer, but give me a bucket of balls and I could hit a driver from my driveway to the middle of the football field, although it would probably take 200 cuts to get one over there.”

Lofthouse, 42, coached the Sailors to the CIF-SS Division 6 championship in 2021. Newport Harbor advanced to CIF-SS semifinals in 2019 and ’22. The Sailors were 3-6-1 in Lofthouse’s first season as head coach in 2018; they went 9-4 the following season.

Newport Harbor this past season finished 5-6 overall and 3-2 in the Sunset League. The Sailors lost to Trabuco Hills 24-21 in the first round of the Division 4 playoffs.

“This is an advantage for me and my family,” said Lofthouse, who is married and has a 7-year-old son. “And having played at El Toro for Mike Milner, and many of my former teammates live in this community, it’s going to be fun going back to my old stomping grounds.”

Newport Harbor principal Sean Boulton wrote in an email: “Personally, and professionally, I am going to miss him, and will be rooting for him at El Toro High School.”

El Toro recently concluded interviews for its next head coach and Lofhouse’s hiring could become official next week. Randall Reynoso resigned as El Toro’s coach in December.

Boulton said in his email about Lofthouse: “Beyond the on field success, Coach Lofthouse had a profound understanding that football is more than just a game — it is a community. He recognized the interconnectedness of various elements, including cheer, marching band, dance, and our spirited TAR PIT student section, and fostered a sense of unity among these diverse components. This inclusive approach not only enhanced the overall football experience but also strengthened the bonds within the entire Newport Harbor High School community — students who traditionally never came to football games were all of a sudden showing up.

“Additionally, Coach Lofthouse’s commitment to honoring the rich history of our football program is noteworthy. By dedicating the past two seasons to Tarball legends from the 1940s and embracing the “Long Gray Line,” he has reinforced the importance of tradition and instilled a sense of pride in our school’s heritage. The nod and acknowledgment of our incredible school/athletic/football history has been received well by players, staff, alumni and supporters.”

— Dan Albano contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

First look inside Vienza at Europa Village in Temecula

• January 13, 2024

Europa Village is sort of like the Disneyland of viticulture.

The 45-acre resort in Temecula was envisioned as being divided into three themed “villages,” each representing a diffrerent wine-growing region of Europe.

That vision grew closer to reality on Friday, Jan. 12, with the grand opening of Vienza, an Italian-themed village.

It’s been a long time coming. The dream began in 2007, according to managing partner Dan Stephenson, followed by the opening of a first section, called Prelude in 2011.

The first village, Bolero with a Spanish theme, opened in 2020. A French village, C’est La Vie, is yet to be built.

“We’re creating something that’s never been created before, and it’s exciting,” Stephenson said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Before Friday, Vienza was only previewed to small groups of investors. But it already has an award-winning wine. Metodo Classico Brut, which won double gold and Best in Show Sparkling at the 2023 California State Fair, according to a news release.

After the opening ceremony, guests climbed an external stairway into Vienza, a multileveled complex surrounded by patios and balconies. Facilities include a tasting room, ballroom, a market selling Italian products and a deli serving wood-fire pizzas, pastas, sandwiches and gelatos.

“It’s the realization of an extremely important part of our vision,” said Matt Rice, director of winery operations at Europa Village. “It’s got more amenities than you can possibly imagine.”

But there is more to come, he said. Landscaping will continue for a few weeks, and facilities yet to be built include a hotel and amphitheater.

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“I would say in three to five years we expect everything to be completed. That includes the French village,” he said.

The theme park analogy is not new to Rice.

“That’s something we give a lot of credence to in our model, because when you go to Disneyland you have Frontierland and all the other different lands. Here we have that same kind of experience.

“It also makes sense as a business model. Most people who go wine-tasting will visit two, three, maybe four wineries in a day. But it’s not a lot of fun if you’ve got to jump in your car and waste time driving and driving and driving. For us, when you put three unique experiences on the same property, why not just stay here all day.”

Vienza at Europa Village

Where: 41150 Via Europa, Temecula

Information: 951-506-1818, europavillage.com

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers searching for answers with 3-point defense

• January 13, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Was the Lakers’ defensive intensity – and overall defensive performance – in their 106-103 home win against the Clippers on Sunday what should be expected from the team on a nightly basis?

Or was it an aberration amid a disappointing stretch on that end of the court?

In their last two games since the aforementioned victory over the Clippers, in what was arguably one of their two best defensive performances in the last month when factoring in the opponent, the Lakers haven’t been able to reach the same defensive heights.

They allowed 131 points in their one-point home victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday before allowing 127 points in their 18-point home loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.

The Lakers’ defensive ratings (points allowed per 100 possessions) in both of those games were higher than 124 – significantly higher than the league-average defensive rating of 116.2.

“We understand for us to win, we have to defend at a high level,” LeBron James after Thursday’s loss. “Every team creates different challenges, different disadvantages or advantages or whatever the case may be. We prepare for that and try to execute that.”

The last two games haven’t been anomalies.

The Lakers’ defensive rating over their last 16 games since winning the In-Season Tournament, a 5-11 stretch: 118.5, which ranks 22nd in the league during that span.

They had a 110.3 defensive rating in their first 23 regular-season games for the league’s seventh-best mark. They’ve slipped out of the top 10, down to 12th, because of their defensive slippage over the last month.

“There’s different circumstances that play into that inconsistency,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “We just have to figure it out. I don’t want to sit up here and try to make excuses, but yeah, you want to feel like you can go out there every single night and give yourself a chance with the way you defend and the way you guard.”

The Lakers’ 3-point defense has come into focus during this stretch.

They’re allowing the most 3-point field goals (15.7), the third-highest 3-point percentage (41.6%) and the most “wide-open” 3-point attempts (22.9) in the league during the aforementioned 16-game stretch.

Many of those open shots stem from the Lakers prioritizing slowing teams’ top creators and playing the percentages with players who don’t knock down 3-point shots at a high clip.

The game plan has gone against them more often than not recently (Dallas’ Dante Exum and Memphis’ Marcus Smart among players who have scorched them from deep).

“Realizing that everybody, no matter what their numbers are, shoots well against us,” Anthony Davis responded when asked how the team can address its 3-point defense without compromising other parts of its scheme. “If a guy is shooting 10%, he’s gonna shoot 40 against us. Just knowing that.

“There hasn’t been a time where the numbers have told the truth to us when we’ve played guys. We gotta play everybody like they’re Steph [Curry] when they play us because everybody has shot the ball well against us.”

INJURY REPORT

Forward Rui Hachimura wasn’t on the team’s Friday injury report, meaning he should be available for Saturday’s road game against the Utah Jazz after missing five games because of a strained left calf.

Davis (left ankle) and Christian Wood (migraine) were listed as probable while James (left ankle), Cam Reddish (left knee) and D’Angelo Russell (right knee) were listed as questionable.

LAKERS AT JAZZ

When: Saturday, 6:30 p.m. PT

Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City

TV/Radio: Spectrum SportsNet, 710 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers, Teoscar Hernández finalize deal, add more deferred money

• January 13, 2024

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers’ latest investment became official on Friday.

Free-agent outfielder Teoscar Hernandez was added to the roster after his one-year, $23.5 million contract with the Dodgers became official. The contract reportedly will pay Hernandez $15 million in 2024 with $8.5 million deferred to the years 2030-39.

He also has provisions for large bonuses: Hernández would get $3 million if he finishes among the top five in MVP voting, $2 million if he is sixth through 10th and $500,000 if he is 11th through 15th. He would get $1 million for his third Silver Slugger Award.

Hernandez’s signing takes the Dodgers’ outlay for new contracts this offseason over $1.2 billion with two-way star Shohei Ohtani, and pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow the biggest expenses.

Ohtani’s record $700 million, 10-year contract includes $680 million in deferred payments. The Dodgers owe deferred payments to Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Hernández totaling $865.5 million from 2033-44.

The Dodgers cleared room for Hernandez on their 40-man roster by trading top prospect Michael Busch and reliever Yency Almonte to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday in exchange for low minor-leaguers Jackson Ferris, a left-handed starting pitcher, and outfielder Zyhir Hope. Ferris spent last season at Class-A and Hope played briefly in the Arizona Complex League after being drafted by the Cubs in the 11th round of last year’s draft. Neither was added to the 40-man roster.

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The 31-year-old Hernandez is a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner with the Toronto Blue Jays (2020 and 2021) and made the American League All-Star team in 2021. He had a down year with the Seattle Mariners last year (a .258 batting average and .741 OPS) but still hit 26 home runs and drove in 93 runs. He had 12 assists, tied for third among MLB outfielders. He has a .261 career average with 159 homers, 473 RBIs and 58 outfield assists for the Blue Jays (2016-22) and Mariners.

The Dodgers value Hernandez for his production against left-handed pitching – a career OPS of .887. He is expected to be the Dodgers’ primary left fielder next season with right-handers Chris Taylor and Manuel Margot sharing time with left-handers James Outman and Jason Heyward in center and right field.

​ Orange County Register 

What’s next for Washington after Kalen DeBoer bolts for Alabama: We have a few candidates (and loads of questions)

• January 13, 2024

His arrival 774 days ago generated little fanfare. His departure is the biggest story in the sport.

Kalen DeBoer, who lifted Washington from four wins to the cusp of a national championship in two seasons, accepted Alabama’s offer on Friday.

Credit the Crimson Tide for hiring a first-class coach and DeBoer for agreeing to replace a legend (Nick Saban).

But our focus is on Montlake. The Huskies are in need of a head coach as they transition into the Big Ten and replenish a roster whacked by departures for the NFL Draft.

Just 96 hours removed from the biggest stage, UW is picking up the pieces and wondering what comes next.

And we have a question — several questions, actually.

Did Washington president Ana Mari Cauce and new athletic director Troy Dannen do everything possible to keep DeBoer? The school offered him $9 million annually, according to sources. Had the Huskies gone to $11 million, would he have stayed? Was there another component to the negotiations that fell short?

Or was the lure of Alabama simply too great? Were the Huskies doomed the moment Saban announced his retirement? And if not Alabama, would DeBoer have bolted for Michigan if Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL?

We don’t know the answers, at least not yet. Important context is likely to surface in the next 48 hours, and Cauce — to a greater extent than Dannen, who was hired in October — owes Washington fans an explanation. Did she drop DeBall with DeBoer?

Other questions in the wake of DeBoer’s departure:

How late will the celebrations last tonight in Pullman and Eugene?
Was the prospect of losing DeBoer on the mind of former UW athletic director Jen Cohen when she left for USC in August?
Did Washington have a chance to lock up DeBoer months ago, before he became the hottest coach in the game and hired super-agent Jimmy Sexton (who is also Saban’s agent)? In other words, did UW wait too long to get serious? If so, that’s on Cauce.
What is former Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith thinking right now? If Smith had passed on Michigan State, a mid-level job in the Big Ten, he would be the obvious candidate to replace DeBoer in Seattle.
Lastly, where do the Huskies turn for their fourth football coach in just over four years.

Clearly, they should turn to former coach Chris Petersen — for advice, not to return to the sideline. His counsel will be crucial as Dannen embarks on a coaching search that must be completed in short order.

The first decision, of course, is whether to hand the program over to offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who has been at DeBoer’s side for years. His promotion would ensure continuity of culture and scheme.

Is Grubb wired like a head coach? Or is he better suited to be an elite coordinator for decades? And are the Huskies willing to hire a first-time head coach after getting burned by the Jimmy Lake experiment in the wake of Petersen’s departure?

This much is sure: Grubb would come cheap, clearing room for the Huskies to spend heavily on the coaching staff.

If they don’t promote from within, the Huskies should have a solid pool of candidates interested in taking charge of a Big Ten program coming off a playoff run.

Our list of possible candidates is heavy on coaches who have proven they can compete against programs that have greater resources. Why? Because UW will be playing from behind in the Big Ten.

The Huskies are scheduled to receive half-shares (approximately) of the Big Ten’s media rights revenue over the rest of the decade. That’s roughly $30 million per year headed to Columbus, Ann Arbor and Los Angeles that won’t be going to Seattle (or Eugene).

UW’s next coach will have to do more with less. The school should hire someone familiar with that challenge, such as:

Arizona coach Jedd Fisch. In three years under Fisch, the Wildcats improved from 1-11 to 10-3. This, at a basketball school with a modest amount of in-state talent and a second-tier football budget. The risk with Fisch: he has been a head coach for all of three seasons.

UNLV coach Barry Odom. The former Missouri coach just won nine games in his first year in Las Vegas. And if you can win in Sin City, you can win anywhere. That said, he spent four years in charge at Missouri in the 2010s and experienced modest success.

Washington assistant JaMarcus Shephard. The other possible in-house candidate coordinates the passing game and coaches the receivers. And if you watched UW’s receivers, you know they were masterfully coached.

Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore. Should the Huskies consider hiring a key member of the coaching staff that just beat them? Moore filled in for Jim Harbaugh during the latter’s suspension and is considered a potential heir to the throne in Ann Arbor. But if Harbaugh doesn’t leave for the NFL, Moore could be available. He certainly would know the terrain UW is about to encounter.

Kansas coach Lance Leipold. In three years, Leipold has rebuilt one of the sport’s perennial cellar-dwellers. That alone should place him near the top of UW’s list, but there’s more: His background tracks closely with DeBoer’s resume.

Before arriving in Seattle, DeBoer had won at both the small college level (Sioux Falls) and in the Group of Five (Fresno State).

Before taking the Kansas job a few years ago, Leipold won multiple Division II championships (Wisconsin-Whitewater), then thrived in the Group of Five (at Buffalo, in the Mid-American Conference).

He won two games in his first year at Kansas, six last season and nine in 2023, including a victory over Oklahoma.

Put another way: Leipold has won 17 games in three seasons in Lawrence. Prior to his arrival, the Jayhawks needed 10 years to register 17 wins.

The hiring model — a low-profile coach who has won at multiple levels of the game — worked once for the Huskies. Why not lean into it once again?

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline

*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

​ Orange County Register 

Navy officer who’d been jailed in Japan over deadly crash now released from US custody, family says

• January 13, 2024

By ERIC TUCKER

The Associated Press

A Navy officer who had been jailed in Japan over a car crash that killed two Japanese citizens was released from U.S. custody on Friday, one month after he was returned to the United States and placed in a federal prison, his family said.

Lt. Ridge Alkonis was ordered released by the U.S. Parole Commission, according to the Justice Department and a family statement that described the extra detention in a Los Angeles detention facility as “unnecessary.” In total, he spent 537 days locked up either in Japan or the U.S.

“He is now back home with his family, where he belongs. We will have more to say in time, but for now, we are focused on welcoming Ridge home and respectfully ask for privacy,” the statement said. Alkonis’s family is from Dana Point.

The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed in a separate statement that he had been released.

Alkonis was released from Japanese custody last month while serving a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the negligent driving deaths of a woman and her son-in-law in May 2021. Alkonis’ family has said the crash was an accident that was caused when he lost consciousness while on a trip to Mount Fuji. Japanese prosecutors maintained that he fell asleep while drowsy and shirked a duty to pull over as he became fatigued.

He was transferred in December into the custody of the Bureau of Prisons through a Justice Department program that permits the relocation of prisoners convicted in another country back to their home nation. The program stipulates that the sentence cannot be longer than the one imposed by the foreign government.

His family said no prison time was appropriate and protested the detention in Los Angeles.

The Parole Commission, which determines the release dates in the case of returning Americans, said that it had concluded that Alkonis was lawfully convicted in Japan of negligent driving causing death or injury and that the conviction was most similar in the U.S. criminal code to involuntary manslaughter.

But though U.S. sentencing guidelines recommended that a sentence of 10 to 16 months be served if Alkonis had been convicted of the same crime in the U.S., the Parole Commission also determined that the amount of time he had already been jailed would have exceeded the applicable guideline range.

“Thus, as of Jan. 12, 2024, the commission ordered that he be immediately released from custody based on the time he had already served,” the Parole Commission said in a statement.

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​ Orange County Register