A U.S. Navy sailor received a suspended sentence after being found guilty of negligent driving resulting in death following an April 2025 collision at this intersection in Yokosuka, Japan. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA, Japan — A Japanese court on Monday sentenced a U.S. Navy sailor to a suspended sentence of 18 months in prison, one year to the day that his car struck and killed a Japanese motorcyclist.
Chief Petty Officer Mark Paul Paloay Callos, 33, an information technician assigned to Naval Surface Forces Group Western Pacific, was found guilty of negligent driving resulting in death and sentenced by the Yokohama District Court’s Yokosuka Branch.
Judge Yasushi Katada suspended Callos’ sentence for three years, meaning he won’t go to prison unless he commits another offense during that time.
Prosecutors and Callos both have 14 days to appeal the decision to the Tokyo High Court.
Naval Forces Japan spokesman Cmdr. Joe Keiley acknowledged Callos’ sentence by email Monday but declined to comment further “in consideration of the ongoing legal process.”
Callos on March 24 pleaded no contest to the charge, which stemmed from an April 27, 2025, collision just outside Yokosuka Naval Base that killed Shinji Takahashi.
Callos, driving a passenger car, at 6:49 p.m. made a right turn at a traffic signal in Yokosuka’s Heisei neighborhood. Takahashi, 47, was approaching from the opposite direction, Katada said in a summary of the case Monday.
The front of Callos’ car, moving at about 10 mph, collided with the left side of Takashi’s motorcycle, which was traveling about 25 mph. The impact resulted in traumatic injuries and a severe chest contusion for Takashi, who died about an hour later at a local hospital.
At sentencing, Katada said Callos had failed to fulfill his “duty of care” by not adequately checking for oncoming traffic.
Prosecutors recommended a two-year sentence, arguing Callos showed severe negligence and failed to show sufficient remorse for his actions. They argued that he admitted negligence only after seeing evidence at trial.
In closing arguments March 24, they said that Takahashi’s family sought a “severe punishment.”
Callos’ defense, however, in closing, argued for leniency.
Callos had voluntarily surrendered his driver’s license after the accident and attended Takahashi’s funeral in Nagasaki prefecture, about 575 miles west of Yokosuka, where he offered flowers and a condolence payment of about $1,256 to the family.
Katada dismissed allegations that Callos showed no remorse, but the judge acknowledged the severity of his negligence and the gravity of Takahashi’s death.
Takahashi’s younger brothers, during a news conference after the sentencing, called on the Navy to establish a better driving education system for sailors.
“He should stay in Japan and atone for the crime,” the 46-year-old brother, who did not identify himself, told reporters.
