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Female acquaintance of Pierre Taki handed suspended prison term for supplying cocaine

TOKYO (TR) – A court here on Friday handed a 48-year-old woman a suspended prison term for supplying cocaine to musician Pierre Taki, one half of the synth-pop duo Denki Groove, reports the Asahi Shimbun (June 28).

At the Tokyo District Court, presiding judge Hideo Nirei handed Maki Tasaka, an interpreter, a 30-month prison term, suspended for four years.

“You are a chronic offender,” the judge said, “but maintaining a relationship with a celebrity was the purpose, not greed.”

On March 11, Maki Tasaka, an interpreter, supplied Taki, 52, with 6 grams of cocaine for 150,000 yen in a parking lot in Yokohama City. Police arrested Tasaka at her residence in Yokohama on March 19.

Maki Tasaka and Pierre Taki
Maki Tasaka (left) and Pierre Taki (Twitter)

Via a foreign dealer

Upon her arrest, she denied the allegations. “An acquaintance requested that I make a delivery,” police have since quoted her. “I did not know that it was cocaine.”

However, she admitted to the allegations during the trial. She told the court that Taki requested that she supply cocaine via a foreign dealer she got to know through her work as an interpreter eight years ago.

“Since there is a feeling of superiority that goes along with associating with celebrities I could not refuse,” she said. “The entire amount paid was given to the dealer.”

Last fall, police started an investigation into Taki. During the investigation, investigators learned that Tasaka has been an acquaintance of the musician for about 20 years.

On March 12, law enforcement searched the residence of Taki in Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward. Investigators did not find any cocaine, but a subsequent analysis of the urine of the musician provided a positive result for cocaine.

Earlier this month, Taki was handed a suspended prison term for the use of cocaine.