Robert Holley, a naturalized Korean citizen from America and TV personality, was given a suspended prison sentence Wednesday in a local court's ruling on his drug case.

The Seoul Western District Court sentenced Holley to a one-year imprisonment, suspended for two years, for taking a banned substance earlier this year. The court also ordered him to take a 40-hour lecture on anti-drug medications.

Holley, better known among local TV viewers by his Korean name Ha Il, was indicted in April on charges of buying 1 gram of methamphetamine and taking the illegal substance twice in March.

"Drug crimes need to be punished sternly. But the court considered the defendant's repentance for his offense and pledge to quit drugs and no crime record in determining his sentence," Judge Lee Seung-won said.

In a previous hearing early this month, prosecutors demanded a suspended sentence for Holley, saying he is a first-time offender and repents for his wrongdoing.

Holley was accused of purchasing 1 gram of methamphetamine online in the middle of March and using it together with a 20-year-old foreign acquaintance at that time. Police said Holley again used the drug alone at his home in Seoul later. Holley was detained on April 8 after police found that a drug dealer had received a money transfer from the TV celebrity. Holley reportedly told police he took the drugs because he had a lot of stress related to work, including broadcasting.

The Seoul court also sentenced Holley's foreign acquaintance to a 10-month prison term, suspended for two years.

The 58-year-old from California became a TV celebrity in Korea after he appeared on a number of talk shows speaking in a fluent Korean dialect from Busan. He gave up his US citizenship in 1997 to become a Korean.

Holley told reporters after the sentencing hearing that he will have to pay a price for his mistake and will faithfully live with his family and contribute to society. (Yonhap)