Actress Sawajiri gets suspended sentence for drug possession

February 7, 2020

Tokyo--Tokyo District Court on Thursday sentenced Japanese actress Erika Sawajiri to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for possessing synthetic drugs.

"She had a facile idea that it would be fine as long as nobody found out," judge Toshifumi Takioka said in the ruling. "She deserves a rebuke."

Sawajiri had pleaded guilty. The prosecution sought an 18-month term.

The judge said Sawajiri kept relationships with acquaintances from whom she could get illegal drugs, despite opposition from people around her.

She received LSD from a female acquaintance and other drugs from a male acquaintance, the judge said, adding, "She ignored the social evils of illegal drugs."

Her sentence was suspended as she started rehabilitation at a hospital after being freed on bail.

In a court hearing, Sawajiri said she has "no plan to make a comeback as an actress." "Too much has to be paid for hurting many people. I'm not worthy (of the job)."

According to the ruling, Sawajiri possessed 0.198 gram of capsuled powder of synthetic drug MDMA, known as ecstasy, as well as 0.084 gram of paper and 0.601 gram of liquid both containing LSD, at her home in Tokyo on Nov. 16 last year. Jiji Press