Io Shirai
On July 9, 2012, Sugi held a press conference to announce his involvement in a conspiracy that had gotten Kazushige Nosawa and Io Shirai arrested for marijuana possession and smuggling. According to Sugi, Masahiro Hayashi, who worked as a liaison between AAA and Japan and had a personal grudge with Nosawa, promised him a contract extension with AAA in exchange for him planting the drugs on the couple.