Nine entertainers given suspended jail sentences

Nine entertainers who turned themselves in and confessed to evading compulsory military service were given suspended sentences, the New Taipei District Court ruled yesterday.

The entertainers were each ordered to pay NT$300,000 to NT$1.3 million (US$9,198 to US$39,857) to the national treasury and perform community service.

They were among 15 defendants indicted in April in the fourth wave of prosecutions in a broader military service evasion case.

Former Circus member Leo Liao appears at the New Taipei District Court on June 16.

Photo: CNA

The other defendants included five civilians and alleged ringleader Chen Chih-ming (陳志明).

All 15 pleaded guilty during the proceedings, the court said.

Among the entertainers, Leo Liao (廖人帥), a former member of the rock group Circus, received a sentence of one year and 10 months in prison, suspended for four years.

He was ordered to pay NT$1.3 million to the national treasury and perform 60 hours of community service.

The other eight entertainers and four civilian defendants also received suspended sentences of up to four years, with fines and community service imposed in most cases.

The remaining civilian defendant was sentenced to six months in prison, which may be commuted to a fine.

Meanwhile, Chen was convicted of 14 offenses that resulted in sentences ranging from one year and four months to two years in prison for each offense, with more than NT$2 million in criminal proceeds ordered confiscated.

The court did not determine a combined sentence, as other cases involving Chen remain under trial.

The case emerged from a broader investigation launched in February last year into allegations that Chen helped conscripts evade mandatory military service by falsifying medical test results to obtain diagnoses of hypertension.

Evading compulsory military service through illegal means is punishable by up to five years in prison.