[Exclusive]'First Celebrity Convicted Under the Yoon Chang-ho Law' Son Seung-won, 5 Drunk Driving Incidents → '2-Year Prison Sentence' Finalized

*This content was translated by AI.

Actor Son Seung-won, who was branded as the "first celebrity convicted under the Yoon Chang-ho Law" for five drunk driving incidents, had his 2-year prison sentence finalized after abandoning his appeal following a first-instance ruling of 1 year in prison and a second-instance ruling of 2 years on charges of drunk driving.

According to StarNews' confirmation on the 21st, neither Son Seung-won nor the Prosecution Service had filed a petition for retrial by that day. Son Seung-won also submitted a waiver of appeal rights on the 18th. Consequently, his final sentence was set at 2 years in prison as per the second-instance ruling.

On the 13th, the Seoul Western District Court's First Criminal Division (Appeal) (B), which was handling his appeal trial for violations of the Road Traffic Act (including hit-and-run causing injury under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes), sentenced him to 2 years in prison.

Previously, the Prosecution Service had requested a 4-year prison sentence for Son Seung-won, and the first-instance court had sentenced him to 1 year in prison last month. The Prosecution Service then appealed, arguing that the sentencing was inappropriate, and again requested a 4-year prison sentence for Son Seung-won, consistent with their initial request.

The judge stated to Son Seung-won, "Although the defendant has come to regret his actions somewhat belatedly, in this case, he was arrested with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.165%, which exceeds the threshold for license revocation, and instructed his girlfriend to submit the black box SD card, indicating poor remorse."

The judge continued, "The defendant also made false statements claiming that the designated driver fled after an argument. He also drove against traffic on Gangbyeon Boulevard while heavily intoxicated. Having already been punished three times for similar offenses, he is now being punished again for this incident." The judge then declared, "We accept the prosecutor's appeal. We overturn the original verdict and sentence the defendant to 2 years in prison."

Son Seung-won was arrested on the spot last November after driving against traffic on Gangbyeon Boulevard for about two minutes while heavily intoxicated and was brought to trial in February this year. At that time, his blood alcohol concentration was reportedly 0.165%, more than double the license revocation threshold of 0.08%. Immediately after the incident, he falsely told police that the designated driver had abandoned the car and instructed his girlfriend to remove the black box storage device, among other attempts to destroy evidence.

This marks Son Seung-won's fifth time being caught for drunk driving. Previously, in 2018, he was prosecuted for drunk driving in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where he collided with a vehicle ahead and fled, resulting in a one-year-and-six-month prison sentence. At that time, his license had already been revoked three times due to prior drunk driving offenses. Consequently, Son Seung-won became the first celebrity to be punished under what is known as the "Yoon Chang-ho Law" (amended Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and Road Traffic Act).

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*This content was translated by AI.