Actor Son Seung-won, who had been sentenced to one year in prison at the first trial for his fifth DUI, received a longer term on appeal.
On the 13th, according to legal sources, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Western District Court overturned the lower court and sentenced Son Seung-won, who was charged with DUI under the Road Traffic Act and other offenses, to two years in prison.
The appellate court said, "He induced his girlfriend to conceal the dashcam SD card, which was unfavorable evidence to her, showing poor criminal nature," and added, "He also made an active false statement (to police) that a designated driver abandoned the car."
The appellate court found the first-trial sentence too light, noting Son Seung-won's prior DUI record. It said, however, that it considered as mitigating factors that Son acknowledged the crime and is reflecting on it.
In Nov. last year, Son Seung-won was arrested after driving the wrong way for about two minutes on Gangbyeonbuk-ro with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.165% and was sent to trial in Feb. this year. He is also suspected of attempting to destroy evidence by asking his girlfriend to remove the car's dashcam storage device after the crash.
This is the fifth time Son Seung-won has been caught for DUI. In 2015 alone, he received summary penalty orders twice for DUI.
In 2018, while under investigation for crashing into a taxi while driving drunk, he caused another accident with a blood alcohol level high enough for license revocation.
At that time, the court applied the charge of injury by dangerous driving under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, known as the "Yoon Chang-ho Act," and sentenced Son Seung-won to one year and six months in prison. The Yoon Chang-ho Act strengthens penalties for accidents caused by drunk driving, and among entertainers, Son Seung-won was the first to have this law applied.
It is also known that in May, ahead of the first trial in this case, Son Seung-won drove without a license.