Jackie Chan's son found guilty in drug case
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, January 9, 2015
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| Jaycee Chan, son of Chinese kung fu star Jackie Chan, stands trial on Friday for a drug-related crime at the Dongcheng District People's Court in Beijing. [Photo released by Beijing Dongcheng District People's Court] |
Jaycee Chan, an actor and son of Chinese kung fu star Jackie Chan, was fined 2,000 yuan (US$322) and sentenced to six months in prison by a Beijing local court after he pled guilty when standing trial on Friday.
"I committed a crime and I deserve the punishment," Chan said in his final statement to the court. "After I go back to society when I'm released from prison, I will never make this mistake again. I disappointed my family and friends."
He added, "I am getting the punishment which I should get, which doesn't mean I get mercy and forgiveness. I hope to use my actions in the future to gain public forgiveness and pass on positive energy to society. "
When Chan was taken out of the court, he bowed to the judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys.
The 6-month sentence will start from the day the verdict is made. But according to Chinese laws, because Jaycee Chan has been detained since Aug. 14, 2014 and has not been released on bail, the time he has already spent in custody will reduce his prison stay, meaning he will only be behind bars until Feb. 13, 2015. Chan will therefore be a free man again before Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 19, 2015.
Jaycee Chan pled guilty to a drug-related crime earlier on Friday at the Dongcheng District People's Court in Beijing.
Prosecutors presented the court with evidence that on Aug. 14, Beijing police were informed that a man surnamed Sun was taking drugs. Policemen went to a foot massage center at 11:00 p.m. that day and detained Sun and friends who were with him at the time, including Jaycee Chan, Taiwan actor Kai Ko Chen-tung and Chinese actress Alice Li Xiaonan.
"I made mistakes. I know I was wrong. I should have obeyed the law," Jaycee Chan said in court, adding that he had nothing to say to defend himself.
Chan said he voluntarily informed police that there was marijuana in his home two hours after he was taken into custody. Police later found 117.72 grams of marijuana in a safe at Chan's home.
"I didn't know what they were looking for, so I told them about the drugs. I volunteered it. Because I didn't know how to deal with the marijuana, I wanted to hand it over to authorities," Chan said.
The actor also confessed that he allowed others to use drugs in his home four times: three times with Kai Ko in 2012 and 2014 and one time with Li Xiaonan in August 2014.
After Chan pled guilty, his attorneys chose a defense strategy of getting Chan's crime ruled a misdemeanor.
The prosecutors also told the court that Chan's surrender and confessions helped the case, and his remorseful attitude and acknowledgement of guilt have been sincere. Prosecutors suggested that judge Lin Meimei rule the crime a misdemeanor and asked the judge to reduce Chan's punishment, which was previously predicted by observers to be two years in prison.
Jaycee Chan's accomplice Kai Ko was released after 14 days of administrative detention in 2014. Ko returned to Taiwan and suffered a huge blow to his showbiz career.
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Jaycee Chan, son of Chinese kung fu star Jackie Chan, stands trial on Friday for a drug-related crime at the Dongcheng District People's Court in Beijing. [Photo released by Beijing Dongcheng District People's Court] |
Chan's famous father Jackie Chan and his mother Joan Lin were not present in court.
Jackie Chan told the media in December 2014 that he was shocked when he heard his son was arrested for drug crimes. He denied using his high-profile connections in China to get his son out of prison, saying, "Because he is my son, because he violated the nation's laws. If Jaycee got out of the prison in one week, how will everybody look at Jackie Chan and Jaycee Chan? We are celebrities, but we must do things according to the law."
Jaycee Chan was not the only high-profile figure that was arrested for drug use in 2014. There were several more, including singer Li Daimo, director Zhang Yuan, actors Gao Hu, Zhang Mo and Roy Cheung, screen writer Ning Caishen, TV hostess Wang Jing and popular Chinese singer Yin Xiangjie.
China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television even released a circular on Sept. 29 asking TV stations and film companies at all levels to urgently ban actors, directors and screen writers who have records of criminal misdeeds including drug-related and prostitution-related offenses.
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