Although the prosecution asked for a 10-month prison term, actor Cha Seung Won's son, Cha No Ah has received a suspended sentence for his marijuana conviction.
Cha No Ah, also called Noah, was charged with marijuana possession in March, along with television personality Bianca Mobley of "Chit Chat With Beautiful Ladies" and Daniel of the boy band DMTN. Possessing and using marijuana in South Korea is a criminal act that can lead to up to five years imprisonment and a heavy fine.
The court previously asked for a 10-month jail sentence for Cha No Ah, a former professional gamer. He was accused of smoking marijuana two to three times. But the court gave him a six-month jail sentence that was suspended for two years. If he stays out of trouble for that time, the jail sentence will be cancelled. His offense was considered less serious than that of DMTN's Daniel. His legal team asked for mercy, saying that although Cha No Ah admitted to using marijuana, he did not do so on a regular basis and did not purchase it.
"I am seriously reflecting on my wrongdoings," said Cha No Ah at the trial's closing. "I am very sorry to my family and everyone around me."
DMTN's Daniel was convicted of selling marijuana four times and being involved in the sale of the drug a dozen times. He was also convicted of using the drug even though he denied it. He was sentenced to a year in jail and given a fine of about $6,000. His sentence would have been harsher but he was penitent and agreed to enlist for military service. He was also granted some leniency because he had grown up in the U.S., where marijuana use is not punished so severely.
Cha No Ah still faces a court date for alleged sexual assault. In August, a 19-year-old high school student filed assault charges against him, saying that he held her against her will and repeatedly raped her. He says he is innocent of these charges and that the couple was dating.
A day after the assault charges first made the news, actor Cha Seung Won apologized publicly for his son's behavior. Cha Seung Won, the 43-year-old actor who starred in the dramas "City Hall," "The Greatest Love" and "Athena: Goddess of War," posted a statement online. He said," Before I'm actor Cha Seung Won, I'm a father and I would like to apologize for my shortcomings as a father. I'm responsible for the son that caused this trouble and I cannot ease my troubled and broken heart."
Cha Seung Won married in 1989 when he was an 18-year-old college freshman. He and wife Lee Soo Jin also have a daughter, Cha Ye Ni, called Rachel, born in 2003.
