'Four-time Theft Offender' Man in His 30s Commits Theft Again After Release... 4-Month Prison Sentence in First Trial

Court: "Repeated similar offenses immediately after execution ends"

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Taewon] A man in his 30s, who served more than six years in prison for four previous theft convictions, was sentenced to prison in the first trial for allegedly committing theft again.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, Judge Kim Woojeong of the Criminal Division 8 at the Seoul Western District Court sentenced Kim to two years in prison for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (theft) and embezzlement of lost property. The court stated as the reason for sentencing, "He repeatedly committed the same type of crime immediately after being sentenced to prison for recidivist theft and completing the sentence."

Kim was prosecuted for stealing a mobile phone worth 1.87 million won placed on a table by an acquaintance on July 25 last year and purchasing online game currency worth 898,000 won. He is also accused of acquiring and embezzling a lost mobile phone worth 1.4 million won on May 25 last year and purchasing online game currency worth 760,000 won through small payments on the phone.

Kim was previously sentenced to one year and six months in prison each for theft and other charges in 2014, 2016, and 2018. In 2020, he was also sentenced to two years in prison for theft and other charges, and it is reported that he was released from Anyang Prison in April last year.