Yoo Ah In has received a one-year prison sentence. Learn more about the actor’s extensive past of drug addiction.
Yoo Ah In has been dealing with legal issues for a while due to allegations of drug abuse. Following an 11-month trial, the actor has been given a one-year prison sentence for breaking the Narcotics Control Act on September 2, 2024. Furthermore, he was also fined 2 million KRW and had to surrender an extra 1.54 million won.
The actor began using drugs in 2020, four years ago, by unlawfully using propofol, a medical sedative. He was officially accused on October 19, 2023, of giving the drug 181 times from September 2020 to March 2022. In addition, he faced allegations of illegally buying more than 1,100 tablets of two varieties of sleeping pills – Stilnox and Xanax – with the names of others on 44 occasions from May 2021 to August 2022.
Furthermore, Yoo Ah In was charged with smoking marijuana with a friend named Choi in the United States in January 2023. He and his friend Choi were alleged to have urged a YouTuber to consume marijuana. They were additionally charged with reportedly pressuring and intimidating the YouTuber to depart from Korea and take back their statement.
In his second court appearance on January 23, 2024, Yoo Ah In acknowledged that he had become reliant on the drug, stating that it had been prescribed to him as part of his medical care. The actor’s lawyer said that he had multiple surgeries that caused a strong reliance on sedation for sleep. He admitted to using marijuana but rejected the coercion allegations.
On July 24, 2024, the artist was asked by prosecutors to serve a four-year jail term, as well as pay a 2 million won fine and forfeit 1.54 million won. On April 25, 2024, the doctor who gave Yoo Ah In propofol was given a one-year and two-month prison term, which was suspended for two years.
Yoo was under investigation on August 28 for allegedly committing sexual assault against a man in his thirties while he was asleep at a studio apartment in Yongsan District, Seoul. According to the existing legislation, instances of same-sex rape are labeled as “imitative rape” and come with a mandatory minimum jail term of two years.
Yoo Ah In was found guilty of three charges related to marijuana use and illegal drug purchase and was sentenced to a year in prison on September 2, 2024. He has also been instructed to participate in 80 hours of drug rehabilitation training. Nonetheless, he was acquitted of coercion or tampering with evidence because of insufficient evidence. At the same time, Choi, who he knows, was sentenced to 8 months in jail and 2 years of probation.