Holley scapegoat of 'dirty' cops, says his friend Peterson

Robert Holley is escorted to Suwon Nambu Police Station, Tuesday, after being questioned at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency over allegations of using illegal drugs. Yonhap

By Oh Young-jin

Mark Peterson, professor emeritus at Brigham Young University in Utah, claimed Tuesday that popular TV personality Robert Holley, known by the Korean name Ha Il, who was arrested for allegedly using methamphetamine, was the victim of “dirty” Korean cops.

In a posting on historian Robert Neff's Facebook, Peterson, a Korea Times columnist, wrote: "Rob's a friend of mine. The police have been dogging him for about a year because another entertainer who is guilty has accused Rob as a way of lightening his own sentence.

"Rob refutes every accusation, and the police will not give it up. Several months ago they gave him a clean bill of health, but they will not give up. Rob doesn't do drugs ― he doesn't even drink. This isn't a drug story; it's a dirty cop story."

Peterson spoke similarly to Yonhap News over the phone.

He was quoted as saying that police didn't have any evidence and forced Holley, 58, to make a confession.

Meanwhile, Holley told reporters in Korean, “I am sorry. I feel heavy hearted,” while a group of plainclothes policemen took him into the police station in Suwon Tuesday afternoon. He wore a white mask and a black cap.

Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency issued a statement rebutting Prof. Peterson's claim. First, it denied that it was a sting operation, saying that a probe into Holley started when he was caught on CCTV depositing money into a drug dealer's account.

It also said that Holley confessed that he had seen an ad online and made a transaction without meeting the dealer.

But the police said that it didn't find any drug in his residence.

Police said a syringe found at Holley's residence was being tested. His urine sample was positive. More tests were under way.

They also found that Holley had deposited hundreds of thousands of won in the account of a drug dealer last month.

Holley, an international lawyer and among the first generation of foreign TV personalities, is suspected of buying the drug online and using it at his Seoul home.

Police said they received a tip to arrange warrants for his apprehension. Holley, a native of California, came to South Korea in 1978 as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1997, he was naturalized and acquired Korean citizenship.