Life imprisonment for the defendant who is in prison for the fourth time.
Having served three prison sentences, after his release, Doan colluded with fellow inmates to engage in drug trafficking. For this offense, involving a large quantity of drugs, Doan was sentenced to life imprisonment.
On October 29th, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance trial to hear the case against defendant Ha Van Doan (born in 1992), residing in Muong Ngoc commune, Que Phong district, for the crime of "illegally trading narcotics".
According to the indictment, in 2020, while serving his prison sentence at Xuan Ha Prison - Ministry of Public Security, Doan became acquainted with Nguyen Van Ky (residing in Ha Tinh). After his release from prison, Doan and Ky maintained contact with each other.
In late August 2023, Ky called Doan to inquire about purchasing 30 packets of methamphetamine. They agreed on a price of 80 million VND. Ky transferred 55 million VND to Doan upfront, promising to pay the remaining amount upon receiving the drugs.
Subsequently, Đoán contacted a man named Vừ (whose identity and background are unknown) in Tri Lễ commune, Quế Phong district, to inquire about purchasing 90 packets of methamphetamine for 92 million VND. Đoán planned to sell 30 packets to the customer and hide the rest for later sale.
On the morning of September 10, 2023, the seller contacted and instructed Doan to go to Vu's camp to pick up the drugs. At the meeting point, the two parties completed the transaction of buying and selling 90 packages of drugs.
At approximately 0:30 AM on September 11th, when Doan arrived in Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district, he was discovered and arrested by the police along with over 1.8 kg of drugs as evidence.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime. The defendant testified that he had previously been sentenced to prison three times for drug-related offenses andtheft of property.
During his time in prison, the defendant became acquainted with Ky. After his release, driven by greed and laziness, the defendant colluded with Ky to buy and sell drugs, despite knowing that such actions violated the law.
The defendant presented his difficult circumstances, stating that his wife had passed away and his daughter was temporarily living with her grandmother, and requested the court to consider mitigating circumstances to reduce his sentence.
However, given the large quantity of drugs and the aggravating circumstance of recidivism, the court sentenced Ha Van Doan to life imprisonment for the crime of illegally trading in narcotics.
Regarding those who bought and sold drugs to Doan, since the defendant could not clearly identify their identities and backgrounds, the investigating agency did not have grounds to prosecute them.
