Singer Lee Ru, accused of 'drunk driving substitution,' receives suspended prison sentence in first trial (Update)

Singer and actor Iru (real name Jo Seong-hyun), who was prosecuted on charges of falsely claiming that a passenger was driving after being caught for drunk driving, was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial.

Singer Lee Ru [Image provided by Victory Contents]

On the afternoon of the 15th, Judge Jeong In-jae of the Criminal Division 11 at the Seoul Western District Court sentenced Iru, who was prosecuted for aiding and abetting a criminal and violating the Road Traffic Act, to six months in prison with a one-year suspension and a fine of 100,000 won.

Iru is accused of drinking and driving in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, last September, and when caught by the police, falsely stating that the female professional golfer A, who was riding with him, was the driver. A also claimed "I was the driver," and the police sent A to the prosecution on charges of aiding and abetting a criminal.

Subsequently, the prosecution found circumstances indicating that Iru assisted A's false testimony. However, since there was no evidence that Iru forced A to switch drivers, he was prosecuted on charges of aiding and abetting instead of inciting aiding and abetting a criminal.

He is also accused of allowing an acquaintance who had been drinking to park his private car in December last year, and later driving under the influence and crashing into a guardrail while driving on the Gangbyeonbuk-ro in Seoul. At the time, Iru was driving at over 180 km/h, and his blood alcohol concentration at the time of arrest was 0.075%, which corresponds to a license suspension.

Meanwhile, Iru is the son of singer Tae Jin-ah. He debuted as a singer in 2005 and sang songs such as "Kkaman Angyeong" and "Huin Nun." He later worked as an actor, appearing in dramas such as "You Are Too Much" (2005), "Secret Man" (2020), and "Gentleman and Lady" (2021).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.