[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A taxi driver who abandoned an intoxicated passenger on a busy roadside has been recommended for a prison sentence by prosecutors.

The Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office on Wednesday asked Judge Choi Yun-young of the Gwangju District Court's Criminal Division 2 to sentence the defendant — identified only by his surname Lee and believed to be in his early 20s — to one year and six months in prison at the closing hearing in his abandonment case.

Lee is accused of dropping off a passenger who was vomiting from intoxication not at the requested destination but along a 16-lane road and driving away. The incident occurred in January.

The passenger, who was barely conscious at the time, was injured while attempting to board another taxi. The passenger's family later filed a missing persons report, triggering a search operation.

In his final statement, Lee appealed for leniency, saying he had called another taxi for the passenger.

Lee also faces charges of handing over a one-time password device and identification documents to an unidentified person around April last year in exchange for money, allowing the use of his bank account.

The court is scheduled to hold the sentencing hearing, covering all charges including the financial fraud allegation, on Sept. 23.


betterj@heraldcorp.com