DODDS TEACHER WRITES FROM JAIL

Detained Kubasaki Educator Warns Americans To Follow The Law In
Japan

NAHA, Okinawa -- High school social studies teacher David Jones has
had plenty of time to think about Japanese justice. For more than a
month his home was a 6-foot by 12-foot solitary cell.

Jones, awaiting trial in Naha General District Court for possession of
marijuana, sent a letter to Stars and Stripes relating his regret at
letting down his family, friends and co-workers and warning others to
stay straight.

"If you are currently engaged in criminal activity in Japan, STOP
NOW," he wrote. "(Or) be prepared for a confusing ride through the
very officious Japanese judicial system."

Jones taught at Kubasaki High School until he was placed on
administrative leave pending the results of an internal Department of
Defense Dependents Schools investigation prior to his arrest May 21. A
search of his off-base home in Chatan, near Kadena Air Base, by
Japanese narcotics officers and agents with the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service turned up a marijuana plant and pipes containing
traces of pot.

Jones remained in custody until his June 15 release on 2 million yen
bond, about $16,500.

A Japanese police spokesman said it is believed Jones kept the
marijuana for his own use. Jones faces a maximum sentence of seven
years in prison and his first hearing is scheduled for July 12, his
47th birthday.

Being held in a Japanese jail is no picnic, Jones warns.

"All of your personal belongings will be confiscated and meticulously
listed, from your wedding ring to your underpants," he wrote. "You
will be issued a set of clothes, assigned a number and a 6-ft. by
12-ft. cell. Your cell will have a toilet, sink, bookshelf, tatami bed
with a one-inch mattress and an old style U.S. military frame, and a
desk and a chair. Regulations require that you sit at the desk each
day, except for scheduled exercises and a one-hour siesta in the afternoon."

Jones said he had to sit at the desk for hours, not allowed to
exercise or do anything other than read and "think about my family and
all the people I let down and hurt."

He has lived on Okinawa for 19 years, but fears that once his legal
ordeal is over, he will have lost his teaching job and will have to
move away from the island he loves.

"This is all so unfathomable," he said. "It's hard to grasp how many
people I've hurt because of my selfishness."

While incarcerated, Jones was allowed to exercise twice a week outside
in a "wedge-shaped room" roughly the size of his cell, "with a cage
overhead instead of a roof."

After each workout, he said he got a four-minute cold shower without
soap. Regular showers were scheduled three times a week for 12 minutes
on Monday and Friday and four minutes on Wednesdays.

"On weekends, you may not leave your room -- no communication with
anyone at any time," he wrote. "AFN radio will be allowed at scheduled
times during the day."

The cell was hot and sticky, he wrote. There is no air conditioning
and the lights are on 24 hours a day. There's no mingling with other
prisoners and he ate his meals, which usually consisted of miso soup,
rice, different Japanese dishes and green tea, in his cell.

He claims he lost 15 pounds during his confinement.

Before indictment, which took place June 13, his only company, he
says, were the "bugs, gnats and termites (that) crawl around and on
you, your bed and clothing."

After a person is indicted, they are allowed two visitations a day for
30 minutes each. Those visits were almost as hard to take as the
solitude, he wrote.

"As simple and wanted as a family visit sounds, you will face them
humbled and shamed, as your crime, by this time, has hit the front
page news, along with details of your loving family who are the
sideline victims of your crime," he wrote.

Jones, a DODDS teacher for six years, is married to a middle school
special education teacher. They have three daughters. According to a
teacher familiar with the investigation, Jones' wife also was placed
on administrative leave.

A third Kubasaki High instructor, an English teacher with more than 20
years in the DODDS system, was reportedly also placed on leave in
connection with the internal DODDS investigation of Jones.

DODDS-Pacific officials said placing personnel on administrative leave
pending an investigation does not necessarily mean they are suspects.

Jones said it is hard to face his visitors.

"The amount of people you have let down will have already come to full
realization, as all of those people who relied on you to do your job,
such as supervisors, also come visiting," Jones wrote. "There are no
words that can fully encompass your regrets and sorrow. You pray for
forgiveness and atonement while your legal and personal future is in
someone else's hands, because I'm sorry is just not enough."

Although his lawyer, Toshimitsu Takaesu, said the letter may be
introduced as evidence of remorse, which is weighed heavily in
determining sentences in Japanese criminal courts, Jones said that was
not his intent.

In an interview Thursday, the former Army paratroop said he wanted to
warn other Americans in Japan to be careful with their behavior.

"We get very comfortable and think we're still in America and living
by American morals and values," he said. "But this is a different
culture and things you might not think are very serious are, in fact,
extremely serious.

"I don't want anyone else to go through what I went through," he said.
"It's as simple as that. It's pain. It's torture."