Oh Jae-won (39), the captain of the Doosan Bears and a former professional baseball player who had a brilliant career as a national team infielder, has been sentenced to prison. Given the tough attitude of the court, it is observed that it will be difficult to avoid prison. Doosan fans and professional baseball fans are shaking at the betrayal of Oh Jae-won, who devastated his former team Doosan for not ruining his life.
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Oh Jae-won, who was indicted on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act, to two and a half years in prison on Wednesday. The court also sentenced Oh and his accomplice to one year in prison and two years of probation. The court also ordered Oh to complete an 80-hour drug addiction rehabilitation program and collect additional 24 million won (27,800 U.S. dollars). Prosecutors originally demanded five years in prison for Oh.퀸알바
Oh Jae-won, a former star player who made his debut in the first division with Doosan in 2007 and played a total of 1,571 KBO league games by 2022, is accused of administering methamphetamine 11 times from November 2022 to November 2023, shortly after his retirement. In April last year, he was also accused of storing about 0.4 grams of methamphetamine in a fire hydrant in the hallway of an acquaintance’s apartment.
He is also accused of destroying his mobile phone with a hammer and threatening when his accomplice A tried to report the medication to the police. Prosecutors arrested and charged Oh Jae-won, and the court sentenced him to prison on the same day. Oh Jae-won currently admits to taking and storing methamphetamine, but denies assaulting and threatening A for retaliation.
The court’s judgment is worth paying attention to. The court ruled that Oh Jae-won committed the crime again after several months even though he was given a conditional suspension of prosecution for completing education for the same crime as drugs. He said he had already been booked with the same criminal record, but was given a suspension of prosecution. Nevertheless, the court’s stern sentence is that the crime is bad because he dabbled in drugs. Although the court said it had no criminal record of punishment and was confessing and reflecting on the rest of the cases other than threats of retaliation, it still sentenced him to prison.
The court also ruled that “when the investigation begins with a report, the circumstances of the crime are not good, such as interfering with the initial investigation by urging false statements, and the crime and method are poor, so a severe prison sentence should be sentenced.” It is not yet known whether Oh Jae-won will appeal in the future, but given the general cases, it is expected that even if he appeals, it will be difficult to avoid prison. In addition, Oh Jae-won was additionally indicted on charges of receiving 0.2 grams of methamphetamine in November last year and is on a separate trial.
Oh Jae-won made a mistake and should be punished accordingly. The problem is Doosan players who played in his former team. Oh is also suspected of having been prescribed 2,242 tablets of Stilnox tablets, a psychotropic drug, 89 times between January 2023 and March this year. A total of nine people were mobilized for the proxy prescription, and many of them are Doosan’s juniors. The Doosan players were also the team’s captain, and it turned out that Oh Jae-won forced them to do the proxy prescription. They were revealed in the team’s own investigation, and have been excluded from games since then, and have continued to do so far.
There are no main stars in the first division, but Doosan is having a hard time operating the second division as they are excluded. Their trial has not yet begun, but given the precedent of strict punishment for proxy prescriptions, it is expected that they will not be able to escape the punishment. Even if it was due to Oh Jae-won’s verbal abuse and coercion, it can only be taken into account, but it does not mean that the crime will be eliminated.
The Oh Jae-won scandal is likely to remain one of the worst scandals in the history of the KBO league. Although he was not an active player, it is not easy to find a precedent where a star player like him became entangled in drugs. Oh Jae-won was loved by his fans by leading his team Doosan to win the Korean Series three times, and played for the national team including the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and the 2015 Premier 12. Moreover, he is on the verge of bringing several players from a single club to court. While many fans are disappointed, attention is focusing on the level of punishment for Doosan players.