Japan Court Hands Life Terms to Two Men in Yokohama, Ichikawa Robbery Cases

Two men who carried out robberies tied to illegal "dark part-time job" recruitment were sentenced to life in prison by the Chiba District Court on November 6, 読売新聞 reports. The defendants, Shu Fujii, 28, and Rikuto Kubota, 23, were convicted of robbery resulting in death and other charges.

According to 読売新聞, the court found the pair took part in three incidents: a break-in at a home in Aoba Ward, Yokohama, on October 15, 2024, in which resident Hiroharu Goto, then 75, was assaulted and killed and cash and other items were taken; plus robbery and injury cases in Funabashi and Ichikawa, both in Chiba Prefecture. The ruling also linked Fujii to a robbery and injury case in Shiroi, Chiba Prefecture, and Kubota to a theft in Asahi Ward, Yokohama.

Presiding Judge Koichiro Hino said that although the two answered to people giving orders, they joined a group that repeatedly committed robbery and filled an essential role in it, 読売新聞 reports.

The court did not attribute specific assaults to Kubota and said it could not establish which defendant carried out each act of violence. It noted the robbers operated without clear divisions of labor or a hierarchy, and concluded that the degree or presence of assault does not create a major difference in criminal responsibility, according to 読売新聞.

The sentences matched what prosecutors had sought. Several outlets, including 時事ドットコム and TBS NEWS DIG, reported that the recruitment came through social media and that one defendant was involved in the fatal robbery within about two weeks of being recruited.

Attention now turns to the cases against the people accused of directing the robberies.