U.S. soldier gets suspended prison term for attempt to rob taxi driver

EUIJEONGBU, South Korea, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. soldier serving in South Korea was sentenced to a suspended prison term on Friday for assaulting a local cab driver in a botched robbery attempt.
The Euijeongbu District Court handed down a three-year jail sentence, suspended for four years, to the 24-year-old corporal who was charged with robbery and inflicting injuries.
The soldier, whose name was not released, was brought to court for his failed attempt to rob the taxi driver around midnight on June 10 while being driven to Euijeongbu, north of Seoul.
While he and another colleague, both intoxicated, were being driven by the taxi driver, the convicted corporal strangled the driver and ordered him to surrender his cash but later fled without any money after the driver fainted. The attack left the driver with injuries that require three weeks of hospital treatment.
The court said the accused deserves a tougher punishment but that it took into consideration that he failed in the impulsive robbery attempt and was in a state of being unable to make sound decisions due to the influence of alcohol.