The Incheon District Court stated on Dec. 19 that a nightclub manager and a former actress had been sentenced to prison for the blackmailing of Lee Sun-Kyun, who passed away earlier this year.

According to OSEN, Manager A received a sentence of three years and six months, and B, the former actress, four years and two months for the role they played in extorting money from the late South Korean entertainment figure.

The court ruled that A, independent of the other accomplices and the act of pleading guilty, decided the amount he would demand from Lee to be 300 million won (about 227,000 dollars).

The court rejected A's assertion that B had commandeered or orchestrated the blackmail plot.

It stated that A's actions would likely have caused Lee a considerable amount of fear and mental discomfort. B had also directly threatened Lee, adding to his stress.

In the ruling, the court also noted that Lee killed himself after the drug investigation was made public.

The court noted that other underlying factors may have fostered this conclusion and contributed to his death but stressed that the defendants' extortion directly did contribute to his demise.

The sentence took into account the mitigating factors. The court recognized that A had been intimidated by B and that this intimidation motivated A to commit a crime.

B had essentially conceded during the proceedings that she was in the wrong and remorseful. She also has small children to care for.

During the trial in November, prosecutors had requested they each be sentenced to seven years.

Lee, who was put on hold, had extorted 300 million won over a phone call with A, who was arrested and indicted in September.

A released B after repeated police investigations because police later found out that B was the hacker who had blackmailed A at that time.

Since Lee was an actor who was beloved by many, and the nature in which he passed was unfortunate, the incident gained mass media attention.