Pop idol-turned-actress Noriko Sakai received an 18-month suspended sentence at the Tokyo District Court on Monday for possessing and using illegal drugs.

Presiding Judge Hiroaki Murayama delivered the sentence, which will be suspended for three years, saying, "Since Sakai put aside leftover material for future use, her affinity and attachment to stimulant drugs is obvious."

Prosecutors had demanded the imposition of an 18-month prison sentence.

The ruling also referred to her attempt to escape detection on Aug. 2, the day her husband Yuichi Takaso, 41, was taken in for questioning by police.

"[Sakai's] behavior afterward was also cowardly as she kept flitting from place to place trying to avoid detection of her own drug use," the judge said.

The ruling referred to the granting of a suspended term, saying: "She's already considering divorcing her husband [who recommended she take stimulants in the first place], and as her management company has severed ties with her, Sakai has already suffered social sanction."

According to the ruling, Sakai smoked a stimulant drug at a hotel on Amami Oshima island, Kagoshima Prefecture, around July 30 and was in possession of 0.008 gram of a stimulant drug on Aug. 3 at her home in Minato Ward, Tokyo.

Sakai entered the court wearing a black shirt and suit shortly before 11:30 a.m. She nodded slightly after taking the witness stand when Murayama read out the text of the sentence. She bowed deeply when he finished and took a seat to listen to the explanation of the ruling.

After the explanation, Murayama told Sakai to reform herself by completely removing drugs from her life and by standing up to and accepting the gravity of her deeds.

"You have appeared in many dramas and films during your long career, but unfortunately this is reality. Later you will come to realize the gravity of this," the judge said.

Murayama also asked Sakai: "Do you understand the sentence? Just to make sure, could you tell me what the sentence is?" Sakai answered, "It's 18 months in prison, suspended for three years."

During the first hearing of the trial, Sakai expressed her intention to rehabilitate herself without using a private drug rehabilitation organization. "I don't feel I'm addicted [to stimulants]," she said.

When she was asked in court whether she was likely to want to use stimulants again, she replied that she "wouldn't use them."