Navy Base Employee Sentenced to Probation for Death of Navy Detective

Alan Bradley, 54, will serve five years of probation and spend one year on home confinement for driving a car at the Newport Naval base against doctors orders and striking and killing Navy Detective Frank Lema in 2013.

Bradley was found guilty of driving to endanger, death resulting in June.

Over the course of the trial, prosecutors said that Bradley, a civilian production employee on Navy Base Newport, killed Lema on Sept. 26 even though his personal physician had warned him not to drive because he was a risk to himself and others due to a seizure disorder.

Along with noting that Bradley was involved in a single-car crash in Middletown in 2011 with his young son in the car, Bradley reportedly admitted that his disorder was a contributing factor in the 2013 accident.

Prosecutors argued that Bradley acted in reckless disregard when he got behind the wheel that day on Sept. 26 of 2013. He reportedly struck Lema as he stood outside the Navy public safety building with a fellow Navy law enforcement officer. After striking Lema, Bradley reportedly continued rolling about 200 feet before stopping on an embankment.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi presided over the trial and imposed the probation sentence. She also ordered him to perform 1,500 hours of community service and pay restitution to the family of Frank Lema in the amount of $16,504.72.

The government had asked Bradley be sentenced to two years in prison, a sentence “ within the recommended guideline sentence for this matter of between 41-51 months incarceration,” U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha said in a release.

The case was prosecuted by First Assistant United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch.

The case was investigated by Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Rhode Island State Police.

Lema, a retired Middletown police captain, had returned to work following a motorcycle accident that took the life of his wife of 48 years, Janice.

The couple left behind five children.

Bradley reportedly had an epileptic seizure while driving at the base in the 1990s and had an accident then. He was subsequently barred from driving on the base.