Society

Ex-KAT-TUN singer Tanaka goes on trial for drug possession

KASHIWA, Sep 23 (Japan Today) - A former member of KAT-TUN, an all-male idol group, went on trial in Chiba Prefecture on Thursday, charged with violating the Stimulants Control Law.

In the opening session at the Chiba District Court, Koki Tanaka, 36, pleaded guilty to possessing stimulants, Kyodo News reported. Tanaka was arrested on June 30, just nine days after he was convicted and given a suspended sentence for a similar crime earlier this year.

The court heard that Tanaka was acting in a “suspicious manner” outside Kashiwa Station at around 10 p.m. Prosecutors did not specify what Tanaka was doing, but said that he tried to avert the gaze of policer officers as they approached him. He was found to be in possession of a plastic bag containing stimulants.

The arrest came after the Nagoya District Court convicted Tanaka on June 21 and sentenced him to 20 months in prison, suspended for three years. ...continue reading

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