Actor Son Seung-won, known as the "first celebrity under the Yun Chang-ho Act," was indicted on his fifth drunk driving charge and faced a four-year prison term at the appellate court.
On the 23rd, the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 1 (presiding judge Director General Ban Jeong-woo) held the first appellate trial for Son Seung-won, who is charged with violating the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving).
Earlier, at the first-instance sentencing hearing held last month, the court sentenced him to one year in prison and ordered him detained in court after finding a risk of flight. However, the prosecution appealed, saying the sentence was too light.
In his final statement, Son Seung-won said, "Every morning when I wake up and until I fall asleep, I regret and blame myself. During the remaining time of my sentence, I will spend a lot of time in true repentance and accept the full weight of my punishment."
The prosecution requested that the court impose a four-year prison term, as in the first instance. The prosecution explained the reason for its sentence recommendation, saying, "Despite having the same criminal record, he committed the crime again. It is hard to see that he is truly remorseful, and there is a high risk of reoffending."
Separately, Son Seung-won was arrested as a flagrante delicto last November after driving the wrong way on Gangbyeonbuk-ro for about two minutes while heavily intoxicated, and was indicted in February. At the time of detection, his blood alcohol concentration was more than twice the license revocation level (0.08% or higher).
This drunk driving charge is already Son Seung-won's fifth. In 2018, Son Seung-won was indicted on charges of driving while heavily intoxicated and unlicensed in Gangnam, Seoul, causing an accident and fleeing the scene.
At that time, it was revealed that Son Seung-won had driven under the influence again despite having his license revoked after three prior drunk driving offenses, causing shock. He was sentenced to one year and six months in prison and became known as the so-called "first celebrity punished under the Yun Chang-ho Act."
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]