The fateful encounter with a fellow prisoner of a young man from Nghe An.

On the morning of August 26th, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial to hear the case against defendant Le Tien Tinh (born in 1993), residing in Quynh Xuan ward, Hoang Mai town, for the crime of "illegally possessing narcotics".

Tịnh had previously served two prison sentences for drug-related offenses. In 2014, Lê Tiến Tịnh was sentenced to 30 months in prison by the People's Court of Tĩnh Gia District (Thanh Hóa Province) for "illegally trading narcotics." Two years later, Tịnh was again sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison by the People's Court of Ba Đình District, Hanoi, for "illegally possessing narcotics."

Defendant Le Tien Tinh. Photo: Tran Vu

Four months after being released from prison, Le Tien Tinh was arrested again for drug-related offenses.

According to investigative documents, on the afternoon of March 26, 2019, Tinh took 40 million VND by bus to Tinh Gia district to buy pet dogs. Upon arriving in Tinh Gia district, he met a former cellmate named Linh. Linh asked Tinh, "Are you still using drugs these days?" Tinh replied, "I'm still using crystal meth." Linh then asked, "Do you want to buy some? I can give you a cheap price. 100 to 200 grams is expensive, but a whole kilogram is 150 million VND."

Seeing the low price, Tinh agreed to buy and sent 40 million VND upfront, asking for the remaining amount to be paid later. Afterward, Linh called someone to deliver the bag containing the drugs to Tinh.

Upon returning home, Tinh took out some of the drugs to use and then divided it into four small plastic bags, which he kept in a glass cabinet. He carefully wrapped and packaged the remaining drugs.

On the evening of March 27th, Tinh took the drugs to Thai Hoa town. Around 11:45 PM that same day, Tinh went to National Highway 48 in Nghia Thuan commune to catch a ride home. While waiting for a ride, he was stopped by Thai Hoa town police for an administrative check, and they discovered 918.75 grams of methamphetamine in his bag.

Immediately after being arrested by the police, Tinh proactively confessed that he had hidden drugs in his rented room. During an urgent search of the rented room that Le Tien Tinh was staying in Block 5, Quynh Xuan Ward, the police discovered 4 plastic bags containing drugs with a total weight of 1.08 grams.

In court, the defendant admitted to the crimes as stated in the indictment and requested a reduced sentence so that he could have a chance to rebuild his life.

In this case, the defendant has several mitigating circumstances such as: honest confession, family members who have rendered meritorious service to the revolution; previously, Tinh had helped a person involved in a traffic accident, which was confirmed by the authorities.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant's actions were dangerous to society. The defendant committed the crime multiple times, demonstrating a blatant disregard for the law. After considering all aspects of the case, the panel of judges sentenced Le Tien Tinh to life imprisonment for the crime of "Illegal possession of narcotics."