The Fall of a Young Widow
(Baonghean.vn) - Business difficulties, bank debts and the pressure of raising children alone caused Le Thi Ngoc Luong to turn to crime. This widow bought drugs hidden in her pants and "earned" up to 15 years in prison. The loss of her father and the imprisonment of her mother left the future of her two young children uncertain.
Desperate for help
Le Thi Ngoc Luong (37 years old), residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, was born and raised in a family of 11 siblings. As the second youngest child, Luong was given the opportunity by her parents to finish high school.
Growing up, Luong got married early to stabilize her life. The birth of two children brought happiness to Luong and her husband. However, the woman's family life soon encountered difficulties when her husband was diagnosed with a serious illness. After a period of expensive treatment, in 2011 her husband passed away, and Luong became a widow.
Since then, Luong has been raising two school-age children alone. The widow has done many jobs to make a living, such as selling bamboo shoots and buying quartz stones. Around 2021, while going to Tri Le commune, Que Phong district to buy quartz stones, Luong met a Mong man (unknown background and address). This meeting was the clue that led Luong to prison.
According to the indictment, in early 2023, due to unfavorable business and debt to the bank, Luong had the idea of buying drugs to sell for profit. Luong remembered the Mong man he had met before, so he called to order 2 heroin plants for 20 million VND.
On the morning of February 14, 2023, Luong rode his motorbike alone to the meeting point to receive the “goods”. The seller pointed to a package of drugs hidden in the bushes and said he would give him an additional 5 pink pills. Luong went to get the drugs and hid them in the pants he was wearing.
The woman's drug trafficking was discovered and arrested by the police when Luong was on her way home. The evidence of the case was nearly 78 grams of drugs. With the above behavior, Le Thi Ngoc Luong was prosecuted and brought to trial for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
Late regret
Throughout the trial, the defendant bowed her head several times, showing remorse for her actions. Especially on the day of the trial, many of her relatives, including her children, were present in the courtroom. Regret and shame were the feelings of the female defendant for her wrongdoings.
Regarding the reason for committing the crime, the female defendant stated that because her business was having difficulties and she needed money to pay off her bank loan, she took the risk. She used the money she had saved during her business to trade drugs.
The defendant’s testimony caused the jury to question him again, because the amount of money he spent on drug trafficking was large. Instead of doing business honestly, he used that money to commit illegal acts. At this time, Luong bowed his head, admitting that he had taken a risk…
The female defendant presented the difficult circumstances of her family when her husband passed away, leaving her to raise two children alone. Luong shed tears many times when mentioning her two children, who were already orphans and now had to live far away from their mother.
Her husband passed away a long time ago, so for many years Luong has been both a father and a mother. Luong should have been a shining example to teach her children to be good people. But then, because of greed, the widow turned herself into a lawbreaker, making herself feel ashamed in front of her relatives and children.
In his final statement before the court deliberated, the defendant pleaded with the panel of judges to consider the circumstances of his crime so that he could soon return to his children. The defendant stated that this was an expensive lesson that he had to learn and promised not to repeat the offense. After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel sentenced defendant Le Thi Ngoc Luong to 15 years in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking".
Luong invested a large amount of capital in his business venture, but what he got in return were years of serving his sentence in prison. The defendant regretted that he had worked hard to support his family for many years, but then because of his momentary greed, he had to pay a heavy price.
Before being escorted home, Luong tried to turn his head to look at his mother to tell her to take care of her health and to ask her to take care of her children. Listening to her son’s words, the mother with silver hair quickly wiped away her tears. The mother’s tears in court will probably be engraved in the defendant’s mind. Because from now until many years later, Luong will not be able to take care of her children and support her elderly mother….
