Defendant with terminal illness asks court to reduce sentence so he can 'die at home'
In his final statement, defendant Quang Van Luan asked the jury to reduce his sentence so he could "die at home" because he had suffered from the disease of the century for many years.
On June 26, the People's Court of Nghe An province held the first instance trial of the case of "Illegal drug trafficking" against defendant Quang Van Luan (born 1993), residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, Nghe An); "Illegal possession of drugs" against Truong Xuan Binh (born 1978), residing in Nghia Dan district, Nghe An) and Lo Thi Huyen (born 1978), residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district).
After her husband passed away, Huyen developed feelings for Binh even though she knew this man.drug addiction. At the end of August 2023, Binh asked Huyen to find someone to sell drugs to buy for use.
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Through her children’s connections, Huyen knew about Luan and contacted him to buy drugs for her lover. The couple then went to Luan’s house and agreed to buy 5 packets of pink opium and 2 grams of heroin for 20 million VND.
On September 5, 2023, Binh gave the above amount of money to Luan to go shopping. As soon as he received the advance payment, Luan met a man of unknown origin, bought the drugs according to the order, and made a profit of 2 million VND.
As agreed, in the early morning of September 8, 2023, Binh and Huyen went to Luan's house to get drugs. On their way back, the couple was discovered and arrested by the police. Based on Huyen and Binh's statements, the authorities expanded the investigation and arrested Quang Van Luan.
At the trial, Binh said he bought drugs because he was addicted to drugs and kept them for later use. Huyen knew her lover was addicted so she helped Binh buy drugs for use.
Quang Van Luan also admitted to the act of "Illegal drug trafficking". The defendant said that he was addicted to drugs, had no stable job, and committed the crime out of greed.
After many years of being "friends" with this addictive substance, Luan discovered that he was infected with HIV. While the defendant was detained to serve the investigation, Luan's mother received ARV treatment drugs sent to the prison for her son.
"The defendant hopes the court will be lenient and give him the lightest sentence possible. He is suffering from a terminal illness and is very afraid that he will die in prison. He hopes to die at home...", defendant Quang Van Luan stated before the panel of judges deliberated.
It is known that defendant Quang Van Luan was once subject to administrative measures of being sent to a compulsory drug rehabilitation facility and completed his sentence in May 2023.
Considering the nature and severity of each defendant in the case, the first instance trial panel sentenced Quang Van Luan to 20 years in prison, Truong Xuan Binh to 15 years in prison and Lo Thi Huyen to 10 years in prison.
