A sign marks the entrance to Headquarters and Support Battalion on Camp Foster, Okinawa, March 24, 2026. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
NAHA, Okinawa — A Japanese court handed a U.S. sailor a two-year, suspended sentence Tuesday after convicting him of attempting to smuggle magic truffles onto Okinawa through the Japanese mail system.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle Mudd, 27, was sentenced in Naha District Court for violating Japan’s Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act and the Customs Act. The sentence was suspended for four years, meaning he will serve no prison time unless he commits another offense in Japan in that period.
Judge Kazuhiko Obata presided over a three-judge panel at the hearing.
Mudd’s sentence reflected his lack of a previous criminal record in Japan, Obata said during the sentencing.
Mudd was indicted July 11 for attempting to have a package with 71 grams of truffles containing the narcotics psilocin and psilocybin sent to his home address in Ginowan city. The amount is about equal in weight to three AA batteries.
Truffles, unlike mushrooms, grow underground.
Mudd also purchased a cultivation kit online, Obata said in court.
“We can say that he already possesses affinity for illegal substances, and the criminal responsibility is not light,” he said.
Mudd is assigned to Headquarters and Support Battalion on Camp Foster, Marine Corps Installations Pacific spokesman Maj. Brett Dornhege-Lazaroff said by phone Tuesday.
The sailor will remain confined to military bases except for official travel to and from work and his home for the rest of his tour on the island. Dornhege-Lazaroff did not know how long that would be.
“We take these things seriously, and we continue to remain committed to our alliance and to ensuring the highest standards of conduct for our service members,” he said.
On Feb. 19, 2025, Tokyo customs officials at Narita Airport intercepted a package containing two blocks of the drug sent from the Netherlands 10 days earlier, according to the indictment.
Mudd pleaded not guilty through his attorney, Tetsu Amakata, at his initial hearing on Nov. 4.
Prosecutor Kazutaka Ikeda told the court that Mudd paid about $250 for the drugs. He played a video in court showing Mudd receiving the parcel from an undercover officer.
Ikeda also submitted as evidence Mudd’s internet search history and text messages between Mudd and the website, neither of which were shown in court.
During a Feb. 10 hearing, Amakata told the court that the text messages refer to “truffles” only and that any link to illegal drugs is speculation.
Suspended sentences for U.S. service members, Defense Department civilian employees and their families for importing drugs onto Okinawa via mail are not uncommon.
A U.S. military spouse convicted of receiving liquid cannabis through military mail received a suspended, 18-month sentence on March 16. A Marine convicted in October 2024 of importing a synthetic cannabinoid received a 30-month sentence, also suspended.
AloJapan.com