The trio met in prison and were released from prison for life for drug trafficking.
The three defendants all had bad records, having been in and out of prison many times. Having known each other in prison, after being released, the defendants colluded to traffic drugs.
On October 22, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance trial of 3 defendants: Phan Trung Hung (born in 1979), Mai Van Thanh (born in 1992), both residing in Vinh city, and Gia Xia Cho (born in 1969), residing in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, for the crime of "Illegal trading of narcotics". In addition, defendants Cho and Hung were also prosecuted for the crime of "Illegal possession of drugs".
The indictment shows that Phan Trung Hung got to know Thanh and Cho while they were serving prison sentences. On April 13, 2024, Hung and Thanh went to Cho's house to discuss buying drugs to sell for profit. Cho agreed and promised to report back when he had the drugs.
Three defendants at trial.Photo: Tran Vu
The next morning, when Cho called to inform him that he had the “goods”, Hung ordered 30 packages of opium for 60 million VND. Hung then asked Thanh to take the money to buy the drugs, promising to pay him 10 million VND for the work.
Mai Van Thanh then rented a car to drive himself to Tri Le commune to meet Cho. After receiving 60 million for the "goods", Cho sent someone to deliver 630 grams of Methamphetamine to Thanh.
At about 0:45 a.m. on April 16, when Thanh was driving his car to Nghia Xuan commune, Quy Hop district (Nghe An), he was arrested by the police along with the evidence.
Based on Thanh's testimony, the police arrested Phan Trung Hung and seized 0.09 grams of drugs. Searching Cho's house, the police seized nearly 1 gram of drugs that the subject was keeping for later use.
At the trial, the defendants admitted to committing the crimes as charged in the indictment. The three defendants said they knew each other while in prison. The defendants admitted that they traded drugs for profit even though they knew it was against the law.
All three defendants have bad personal records, having been in and out of prison many times. At the trial, all three defendants asked the panel of judges to consider reducing their sentences.
Considering that in this case, all defendants had aggravating circumstances of recidivism, the panel sentenced Phan Trung Hung to life in prison for the crime of illegal drug trafficking and 2 years in prison for the crime of illegal drug possession; the total combined sentence of the defendant is life in prison.
Sentenced defendant Gia Xia Cho to life in prison for the crime of Illegal drug trafficking, 1 year in prison for the crime of Illegal drug possession; the total combined sentence is life in prison.
Defendant Mai Van Thanh was sentenced to life in prison for illegal drug trafficking.
