The late regret of a man who was imprisoned four times

Two-fingered man sells drugs

In 2003, Xoan startedindigowith a 2-year prison sentence for “Theft of property”. Xoan explained that this was his first crime because he was young and reckless and lacked legal knowledge. Not having been to school, Xoan did not know how to read or write. Being illiterate and uneducated, and wanting to have money to spend, Xoan got involved in that theft.

3 years later, Xoan continued to receive a 2-year prison sentence for the same “two-finger” disability. The second time committing a crime in such a short period of time with the same charge made everyone start to get fed up with Xoan. In 2008, Xoan finished serving his sentence. Not long after, this young man got married to a woman 1 year older than him named Lo Thi Sen.

Lo Van Xoan being escorted to court. Photo: Tran Vu

It was thought that after the birth of two children in 2010 and 2012, Xoan would be motivated to focus on business and set an example for his children, but then, in 2013, Lo Van Xoan was arrested by the police for illegal possession of drugs and was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison.

When her husband went to jail, Lo Thi Sen did not learn a lesson for herself, but instead followed in her husband’s footsteps. In 2016, Lo Thi Sen participated in a large-scale drug trafficking case and was sentenced to life in prison.

The day Sen was imprisoned with an indefinite sentence, her husband was still serving his sentence. Therefore, the two young children had to depend on their grandmother. In 2019, Xoan finished her sentence and returned home to see her two young children living in poverty. Xoan felt guilty towards her children.

During this time, Xoan took care of his children and took the time to visit his wife. This man chose to work as a hired hand distributing glue to make a living. Relatives and neighbors felt somewhat secure about Xoan because he knew how to take care of his family. However, after a short time, Lo Van Xoan returned to his old ways. While working as a hired hand distributing glue, Xoan participated in a scam.drug traffickingnew.

Accordingly, on August 14, 2020, Xoan went to work distributing acacia trees for hire and met Kem Van Tung (born in 1979), residing in Chau Loc commune, Quy Hop district. Here, Xoan told Tung that she had drugs "if anyone wants to buy, contact". Hearing that, Tung immediately looked for a customer to buy drugs. Afterwards, Xoan bought 4 packages of drugs from an unknown man for 9.6 million VND.

On August 21, Xoan sold the above drugs to Tung for 12 million VND. Because he did not have the money, Tung asked for a debt deferment. When Tung took the drugs to sell to the customer, he was arrested by the police. The two defendants Lo Van Xoan and Kem Van Tung were prosecuted for "Illegal trading of narcotics".

Message from a father in prison for the fourth time

On the day the two defendants Lo Van Xoan and Kem Van Tung appeared in court, while defendant Tung was visited by his wife, children, and relatives, Xoan was alone. Xoan confided to the writer as if to reassure himself: “I can’t blame my relatives because the road is too far and expensive. Moreover, my mother-in-law must be old and sick today so she can’t come to court.” After a moment of silence, Xoan continued: “I also don’t want my relatives to witness this scene and be sad again. I’ve already made everyone suffer a lot.”

Xoan did not explain his crime but admitted his mistake. The only thing Xoan did not understand was why his wife was involved in drug trafficking. “When I was about 3 years away from being released from prison, I heard from relatives that Sen was arrested for drugs. I was shocked, because every time she brought the children to visit me, she encouraged me to try to reform. But....".

Talking about his life after being released from prison, Xoan said that because he had no house to live in and his wife was also in prison, he and his two children lived at his mother-in-law's house. Every day, Xoan worked as a hired hand to distribute glue and earned a few million each month, but human greed is bottomless, so he fell once again...

Asked if he had any regrets, Xoan nodded. “What do you regret the most?”, Xoan said he felt guilty towards his children. This man was afraid for his children’s future when both their father and mother were in prison. “I just hope that my two children will grow up to be good people and not fall into the same trap as their parents,” Xoan told her two children through the writer.

The panel of judges determined that in this case, defendant Lo Van Xoan committed a dangerous recidivism crime and was sentenced to 17 years in prison; defendant Kem Van Tung was sentenced to 16 years in prison.