TUKWILA, Wash. — The trial for former JBLM soldier Jonathan Kang Lee began and ended in one day Wednesday, as he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Redicab driver Nick Hokema.
“This doesn’t bring him back. It doesn’t complete that family picture….but he got some justice,” Hokema’s fiancé Nicole Sharkody said.
Sharkody has been following this case from the get go. She says while the family is happy to see some sort of justice for what happened to Hokema, she believes JBLM has a lot more to answer to.
“And I am going to use everything that I have learned about previous cases that JBLM has dropped the ball on and I am going to make sure that people get accountability,” Sharokody said.
In court this afternoon, Lee pled guilty to first-degree murder, admitting he stabbed Hokema in the back of the head and chest.
Before today’s trial, Lee was also charged with pre-meditated murder and robbery, but those charges were dropped by the judge.
Character witnesses took the stand on behalf of Lee, alongside emotional testimony from Hokema’s family about the pain Lee has caused them.
“And I got to see him afraid. I got to see him afraid,” Sharkody said.
Lee was also convicted of child sex crimes prior to the murder, and will continue to serve 64 additional years for those charges, on top of his life sentence.
The U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel issued the following statement regarding the trial:
The court-martial for the case United States vs. PVT Jonathan K. Lee concluded today at the Cascade Court Complex, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., where he pleaded guilty to the murder of Nicholas F. Hokema.
In addition, he also pleaded guilty to desertion, resisting arrest, and two specifications of failure to obey a lawful order.
The military judge sentenced him to life In prison and a dishonorable discharge.
This sentence is in addition to his previous sentence of 64 years in confinement for felony sexual assault offenses where he also received a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. His prison sentences will be served consecutively.
“While nothing the court can do will bring Mr. Hokema back, hopefully this sentence will allow for some closure for his friends and family,” said Lt. Col. Sean Fitzgibbon, circuit chief, Sixth Circuit, Army Office of Special Trial Counsel. “This would not have been possible without the tremendous work from the Tukwila Police Department and the Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division.”
PVT Lee will serve his prison sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
He will be eligible for parole for these offenses no earlier than 2045.
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