A junior high school student threatened his junior to join a pyramid scheme in order to receive compensation

A teenager who forced his juniors to take part in a pyramid scheme in exchange for allowances and stole their money has been sentenced to prison. Chief Judge Kang Hyeon-ho of the Criminal Division at Cheongju District Court said the suspects were on charges of coercion and blackmail.
The court announced that the defendant A (17), who was indicted in the case, was sentenced to six months in long-term and four months in short-term imprisonment. From January to March of this year, the defendant A had offered 11 people, including his junior B (14), new recruits for a pyramid scheme website.
He was indicted on charges of forcing others to sign up as members, and on charges of attempting to do so, in order to obtain the bonus for introducing new members. He was also accused of blackmailing six other junior members and receiving 41,000 won from them.
It was found that Defendant A, a member of a school violence group in Cheongju, had threatened the victim to go to school if she did not listen to him.
In September last year, Defendant A was sentenced to one year and two months in prison with three years of probation for special theft and other crimes, but he turned to crime again.
Chief Judge Kang said, "Looking at the nature and circumstances of the defendant's crime, the crime was not of a good nature and he has not been forgiven by the victims. However, he admitted to the crime, regretted it, and made a criminal deposition on behalf of some of the victims."
"The court took into consideration the fact that the defendant was a minor and that the defendant's actions were not justified," the court said in its decision. Defendant A is currently appealing the ruling. Meanwhile, the Juvenile Law requires that minors under the age of 19 be sentenced to long-term and short-term sentences.
If the education objective is deemed to have been achieved, the inmate can be released after serving at least a short sentence.