One sentence after another, still practicing 'two-fingered' profession

On the morning of May 17, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Pham Thi Phu (born 1977, residing in Nghi Tan ward, Cua Lo town) for the crime of theft of property.

Pham Thi Phu at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Phu had 7 previous convictions for theft. Notably, in 3 consecutive years from 2000, 2001, 2002, Pham Thi Phu received different sentences for the same crime. After being released from prison, Phu continued to follow her own footsteps.

At around 0:30 a.m. on November 10, 2018, Phu took a taxi from his home to Vinh City with the intention of stealing property. When he arrived at a hotel on Lenin Avenue, Phu sneaked into the room of an Italian guest who was staying there.

Here, Phu searched the wallet in his pocket and took some foreign currency including: 500 USD, 700 EURO, 10,000 Thai Baht and 2.8 million VND. The total amount of money that Phu stole from the foreign man was nearly 40 million VND.

In court, Phu confessed to all his crimes. He said he stole the money “to gamble”. “I know I was wrong and ask the court to reduce my sentence so I can go home and take care of my young child,” Phu said in court.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant's recidivism was an aggravating circumstance. Therefore, the defendant Pham Thi Phu was sentenced to 2 years in prison for the crime of theft of property.

Because Phu is raising a young child (6 months), the court postponed the execution of the sentence.