Man sentenced to life in prison for 'not knowing he was wanted'
(Baonghean.vn) - While the accomplices in the drug-related case were brought to trial, Lang Tuan Anh escaped.
On the morning of October 24, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Lang Tuan Anh (born 1976), residing in Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
According to the case file, because they knew each other before, on November 18, 2018, Vu Sy Hung (born in 1986, from Ninh Binh) called Lang Tuan Anh to buy 1 kg of crystal meth and 5 packages of pink phien to sell for profit. Tuan Anh then called a Laotian named Bong to order 1 kg of crystal meth and 5 packages of pink phien for 200 million VND.
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| Defendant Lang Tuan Anh. Photo: Tran Vu |
The next day, Hung rented a self-driving car and asked Pham Dinh Hien (born in 1992, from Ninh Binh) to drive him to Nghe An to “get some stuff”. Hien understood and followed Hung to Nghe An to get drugs. Also on that trip was Nguyen Thi Trang (born in 1992, from Thanh Hoa). Before leaving, Hung brought 4 grams of drugs to use.
That same evening, the three rented a motel in Quy Chau town. At around 11:30 p.m. on November 20, 2018, Lang Tuan Anh went to the motel that Hung's group was renting. There, the group took out drugs to use. Afterwards, Tuan Anh and Hung discussed buying drugs. Trang was sitting next to them so she knew what the two were talking about.
At 3:00 a.m. on November 21, 2018, the group moved to Que Phong district. When Hien drove to Cao Ma slope, Thong Thu commune, Tuan Anh signaled for the car to stop on the side of the road. Tuan Anh got out of the car and went into the forest to buy drugs on debt from Bong. After that, Tuan Anh handed the drugs to Hung, received 200 million VND, and got out of the car. Tuan Anh took the money and gave it to Bong, who gave him 5 million VND in return.
At about 5:30 a.m. on November 21, 2018, when the car reached Tien Phong commune, it was arrested by Que Phong district police. The evidence of the case was 1,100 grams of Methamphetamine.
The defendants Vu Sy Hung, Pham Dinh Hien, and Nguyen Thi Trang were brought to trial by the People's Court of Nghe An province on May 24, 2019. At this trial, the panel sentenced Vu Sy Hung to life in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking", Pham Dinh Hien to 20 years in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking" and Nguyen Thi Trang to 9 months in prison for "Failure to report a crime".
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| Lang Anh Tuan collapsed to the floor after hearing the verdict. Photo: Tran Vu |
While the accomplices in the case were in court, Lang Tuan Anh fled the area. On June 18, 2019, Tuan Anh was arrested under a wanted notice by Que Phong District Police.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime. Lang Tuan Anh stated that he benefited 5 million VND in this case. Regarding the reason for his escape, the defendant stated that he “did not know that he was wanted by the police”.
Lang Tuan Anh has three previous convictions for “Theft of property” and “Escape from detention”. In this case, the defendant has a mitigating circumstance of saving a baby who was swept away by floodwaters in 2015.
Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Lang Tuan Anh to life in prison for “Illegal drug trafficking”. Surprised by the sentence, the defendant collapsed to the floor.
