Two fellow countrymen were sent to prison for both committing theft and drug trafficking.
(Baonghean.vn) - Nam and Dich were both imprisoned for theft. Not long after returning to their hometown, they were both arrested again for drug-related crimes. On the day of the trial, Nam confessed honestly while Dich denied the crime.
On August 4, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Ngo Si Nam (born 1989) for "Illegal drug trafficking" and defendant Truong Thuong Dich (born 1988) for "Illegal drug transportation". Both defendants reside in Dien Xuan commune, Dien Chau district.
Dich and Nam were both imprisoned for theft. While serving his sentence, Nam met a fellow inmate in Dien Bien province. At the end of 2020, after being released from prison, Nam called his former inmate to ask for an introduction to a drug dealer to place an order. Through this person's introduction, Nam contacted Tung (a Laotian) to place an order for the "goods".
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| Defendants Truong Thuong Dich (white shirt) and Ngo Si Nam both received 20 years in prison. Photo: Tran Vu |
On January 25, 2021, Tung called Nam to inform him that he had come to Vietnam and asked if he wanted to buy drugs. Nam ordered 40 million VND worth of drugs and transferred the money in advance to the seller. After receiving the money, Tung set a time and place to receive the drugs.
Two days later, Nam hired Truong Thuong Dich to go to Chau Thon commune, Que Phong district to get the "things". Dich understood that his friend asked him to go get them.drugshould agree.
On the morning of January 29, Dich rode a motorbike to a mountainous district to get drugs for Nam. That same afternoon, when Dich returned to Nghia Thuan commune, Nghia Dan district, he was arrested by the police along with nearly 150 grams of drugs. Based on Dich's testimony, the investigation agency arrested Ngo Si Nam.
At the trial, while defendant Nam admitted to buying and selling drugs, Dich did not admit to transporting drugs. Dich said that because they were friends, he only went to get the “stuff” for Nam. “The defendant did not know it was drugs until he was arrested,” Dich said.
Although during the investigation and at the trial, the defendant Dich did not admit to transporting drugs, based on the testimony of the defendant Nam, the panel of judges determined that the prosecution of the defendant for the crime of illegal transportation of drugs was the right person, the right crime, and the right law. In this case, the defendant had the aggravating circumstance of recidivism, so the panel of judges sentenced Truong Thuong Dich to 20 years in prison.
Although the defendant Ngo Si Nam in this case has aggravating circumstances of recidivism, he also has many mitigating circumstances such as honest confession, repentance, and his father and grandfather being people who contributed to the revolution. Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced Ngo Si Nam to 20 years in prison for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.
