A suspended prison sentence handed down to comedian Lee Jin-ho, 39, on habitual gambling and drunk-driving charges became final on the 9th, after neither Lee nor prosecutors filed an appeal within the deadline, cementing the lower court's ruling as his final sentence.
Lee was sentenced on the 1st to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, along with 120 hours of community service, by Judge Ahn Tae-yoon of the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Court, according to legal sources. Neither Lee nor prosecutors submitted an appeal to the court by the deadline the previous day, the 8th. Under criminal procedure rules, a first-instance ruling is automatically finalized if no appeal is filed within seven days of sentencing. The court cited Lee's admission of the offenses and his deep remorse among the factors in determining the sentence.
Lee was charged with habitually gambling by transferring about 870 million won ($630,000) to illegal gambling websites 664 times between May 2023 and October last year, converting the money into cyber currency. The gambling came to light in October 2024 when Lee disclosed it himself on social media, prompting a police investigation.
Lee was also charged with driving under the influence in the early hours of September 24 last year, while the gambling investigation was under way, making a long-distance trip from Incheon to his home in Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province. His blood alcohol content measured 0.11% at the time, a level warranting license revocation, and a subsequent blood test showed 0.12%, investigators said.
Prosecutors sought a two-year prison term at the final hearing last month. The actual sentence fell below that request, and prosecutors reviewed the written ruling before deciding against filing a separate appeal.
With the ruling now final, Lee will serve the first-instance sentence without any appellate proceedings. If he is found to have committed further offenses during the three-year suspension period, the suspended term could be enforced.
