A Seoul court ruled Thursday that actress Lee Seung-yeon must compensate her former advertising agency, which filed a complaint after she was accused of taking the psychotropic drug propofol.

Lee was sentenced to eight months in prison, with two years suspended, in November 2013 for abusing the drug at least 320 times over six years.

The Seoul Central District Court ordered Lee to pay 100 million won ($92,000) to her former advertiser Tong Yang Group, which filed for financial compensation from the actress and her management agency in January 2013.

DongYang Group claimed that the drug controversy tarnished the actress’ image, making her unable to properly fulfill the contract.

The company signed a one-year contract with Lee in 2012, offering her a modeling fee of 450 million won for a commercial for its fashion brand.

The contract specifically indicates that the model must not create controversy, commit any wrongdoings or taint the image of the brand.

“The probe into Lee’s drug abuse case made it socially unacceptable for her to continue to appear in a TV ad,” the court said in a ruling. “Thus, the defendant has the obligation to compensate for the damage.”

The 46-year-old actress promoted the brand on cable TV channels 14 times from February to December 2012 until she was accused of receiving propofol injections at various hospitals for nonmedical purposes in January 2013.

Fellow actresses Park Si-yeon and Jang Mi-inae were also sentenced to eight months in jail, with two years suspended, for the same charge.

Propofol, an anesthetic commonly used during plastic surgery, is known to cause hallucinations and could lead to death when overdosed. The drug was blamed for the death of American pop legend Michael Jackson in 2009.

Lee debuted in 1993 with a drama “Our Paradise” after nabbing third place in the Miss Korea beauty pageant. She enjoyed immense popularity with highly rated dramas “First Love” and “Love Is in Your Embrace” in early 1990s.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)