Naha District Court in Okinawa, Japan, on July 12, 2024. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A Japanese court Friday sentenced a U.S. Marine to a three-year suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to robbing a convenience store on Okinawa to retrieve money he lost in an online scam.
Lance Cpl. Andrew Torres, 20, of the 3rd Marine Logistics Group, pleaded guilty June 24 to one charge of robbery and one of attempted theft.
A suspended sentence means Torres will not serve time with hard labor in a Japanese prison if he commits no further offenses in Japan for five years.
“Compared to other convenience store robberies, a lot of money was robbed,” Naha District Court Judge Tetsuro Sato said as he sentenced Torres.
“Stay away from any criminal activities, especially during this (five-year) period,” Sato said.
Torres, wearing a blue shirt and brown chino pants, looked relieved as he heard the sentence. He bowed to the judge and left the courtroom without comment. He had faced up to five years in prison.
Torres took the equivalent of $840 when he robbed a convenience store clerk at knifepoint April 3, according to prosecutors. Two weeks later, he attempted on April 18 to take money from another convenience store register but was foiled in the attempt and caught in the parking lot, fleeing the store.
Both convenience stores are in Ginowan city within a quarter mile of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Torres in June said he robbed the store to recoup money he paid a woman offering sex online. He quickly realized he was scammed.
“Torres paid about $1,570 worth of yen in BitCash,” Torres’ attorney, who did not provide his name before leaving court, said to Stars and Stripes at Torres’ plea hearing. “Initially, he was asked to pay $125 worth of yen in BitCash. Following the first transaction, he faced an escalating series of payment demands.”
BitCash is a form of electronic money available at convenience stores in Japan and used for online payment for games, videos and music downloads.
“I should have sought help from family and friends,” he said at his plea hearing. “There were better ways, I wasn’t looking into all my options.”
Torres, questioned by Sato at the plea hearing, said he “would have kept going” until he acquired the $1,570.
Torres’ attorney said that Torres paid $188 worth of yen as an apology to both convenience stores, and both agreed to forgive him. He also paid $840 to an insurance company.
