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Drunk driving and drugs charges for ex-tango king Jari Sillanpää

The former tango king is accused of drunk driving, using narcotic substances and two traffic offences.

Jari Sillanpää
Jari Sillanpää Image: Jarno Kuusinen / AOP
  • Denise Wall

Popular Finnish performing and recording artist Jari Sillanpää was charged by the Helsinki District Court with several offences arising from an apparent drunk-driving incident last year.

Sillanpää faces a slew of charges including drunk driving, using narcotics and two traffic offences. The one-time tango king is suspected of driving a vehicle through downtown Helsinki while under the influence of narcotics last autumn.

Officials reportedly found methamphetamine in his vehicle following the incident.

Sillanpää stands to be sentenced to a fine of a maximum of six months in prison if he is found guilty of the drunk driving charge.

A conviction for use of illicit narcotics and traffic offences also carries a possible sentence of a fine or a maximum of six months in prison.

Sillanpää rose to national fame in 1995, when he was crowned Finland's tango king at the annual competition in Seinäjoki, western Finland.

He is the country's most successful tango king and he became the country's best-selling artist with an album he released in 1996.