The number three member of the Kudo-kai gang, who was accused of violating the Act on Punishment of Organized Crime and other crimes for being involved in six attacks on citizens in Kitakyushu and Fukuoka from 2012 to 2014. The Fukuoka District Court sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment as requested by the prosecution.
Defendant Keigo Kikuchi (50), the No. 3 of Kitakyushu City's designated dangerous gangster Kudokai, and its chairman, was a former police officer, a nurse, and a dentist in Kitakyushu City and Fukuoka City from 2012 to 2014. He was involved in six attacks on civilians, including three cases in which he was attacked with a handgun and a knife, and an arson case in a downtown area of Kitakyushu City that had posted stickers prohibiting the entry of gangsters. He was accused of violating the Act on Punishment of Organized Crimes.
The defendant claimed innocence, and in the absence of direct evidence, the issue was whether the defendant was involved in the case by following instructions from the top of the organization.
In the ruling on the 26th, the Fukuoka District Court sentenced defendant Kikuchi to life imprisonment as requested by the prosecution.
Regarding the Kudokai, Satoru Nomura (76), the top defendant of the Kudokai, was sentenced to death for murder and other crimes in a case in which the Fukuoka District Court attacked citizens two years ago, and the second defendant, Fumio Tagami (66), was sentenced to life imprisonment. Both defendants have appealed the sentences of imprisonment.