Comedian Lee Jin-ho Receives Suspended Prison Sentence for Repeated Gambling and Drunk Driving

Comedian Lee Jin-ho received a suspended prison sentence after admitting to repeated illegal gambling and drunk driving charges. The Criminal Division 1 of the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years.

The court said it considered Lee’s admission of all the charges and his remorse when deciding the sentence. Lee, 39, had been indicted without detention.

According to the case details, Lee used an illegal gambling website 664 times from May 10, 2023, through October 14 of the following year. Police determined that he spent about 870 million won on the gambling during that period.

Lee disclosed the illegal online gambling himself in a social media post in October of the previous year. He also said he had accumulated substantial debt, including money borrowed from acquaintances. Separately, on Sept. 24 of that year, while under investigation over the gambling allegations, he allegedly drove about 70 kilometers from Incheon to Yangpyeong County in Gyeonggi Province. The source identifies the journey as a drunk-driving case but does not provide the reported blood-alcohol level.