[Exclusive][Breaking News] 'First celebrity under the Yoon Chang-ho Act' Son Seung-won, convicted of five drunk driving incidents, receives final sentence of two years in prison

*This content was translated by AI.

Actor Son Seung-won, who earned the infamous title of 'the first celebrity under the Yoon Chang-ho Act' for five drunk driving incidents, had his two-year prison sentence finalized after abandoning his appeal following a one-year sentence at the first instance and a two-year sentence at the second instance on charges of drunk driving.

According to StarNews verification on the 21st, neither Son Seung-won nor the Prosecution Service has filed a petition for review as of that day. Son Seung-won had previously submitted a waiver of appeal rights on the 18th. Consequently, his final sentence was confirmed at two years in prison, as ruled by the second instance court.

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 two years in prison.

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

The judge stated to Son Seung-won: "Although the defendant has shown remorse for his crime 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 criminal intent."

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 two 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 reported to be 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 vehicle and instructed his girlfriend to remove the black box storage device, among other attempts to destroy evidence.

This marks the fifth time Son Seung-won was caught 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 incidents. Consequently, Son Seung-won became the first celebrity to be punished under what is known as the 'Yoon Chang-ho Act' (amended Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and Road Traffic Act).

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*This content was translated by AI.