Husband takes money from selling pigs to buy drugs, drags wife to jail

For nearly 10 months, the couple Xong Pa Cho (46 years old) and Tho Thi Gia Cua (44 years old), residing in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, have only met each other a couple of times. Because both were arrested for involvement in a drug trafficking case. About 5 months ago, the couple Cho and Cua met each other at the first instance trial in which both were accomplices.

Recently, the couple reunited again in court.appeal. Being escorted to court, Cua repeatedly covered her face and cried. Meanwhile, her husband sitting next to her appeared quite calm. The female defendant kept turning her head to look at her children sitting below.

Cho and his wife were prosecuted for illegally trading more than 4 grams of drugs. Previously, the court of first instance sentenced Xong Pa Cho to 6 years in prison, and defendant Tho Thi Gia Cua to 5 years and 6 months in prison. The two defendants later filed an appeal, asking for a reduction in their sentences.

The two defendants Xong Pa Cho and Tho Thi Gia Cua cried many times in court. Photo: Tran Vu

At the appeal hearing, both sides maintained their appeals. Through an interpreter, the two defendants explained their crimes. However, the reason why the wife went down the wrong path made others feel sorry.

Tho Thi Gia Cua did not go to school so she was illiterate. Living in a village more than 7km away from the commune center, Cua mainly stayed at home to farm and raise livestock. At the age of 18, Cua got married and gave birth to 3 children. After getting her children married, Cua could not relax because she had to take care of her niece who lost her mother at birth.

Although poor, the peaceful life of this family could not last long when the husband became addicted to drugs. Although Cua advised her husband many times, Cho still could not break away from the “brown fairy”.

On April 14, 2022, after selling the pig for 2 million VND, Cho went into the forest to buy drugs. With the drugs he bought, Cho took some out to use, and told his wife to keep the rest. He put the drugs in two small bottles, put them in a cloth bag on his hip, and then went to the field with his husband.

The next day, while Cua was at home, two men came to buy heroin. Thinking that the rice in the house was gone, Cua took four heroin pills and sold them to the customer. The woman used the money from selling drugs to buy rice for her family. The drug trafficking of Cho and Cua was exposed when the police discovered the drug use of the two previous customers.

Defendant Tho Thi Gia Cua cried many times in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Since both parents were arrested, the house in Pa Khom village has become desolate. The 22-year-old son shared: “Both parents were arrested, we are very sad. Because of the circumstances and the distance, we rarely visit our parents in the detention camp. I only visited them once. They cried and told us to take care of each other and live well. We can only encourage them to be at ease and reform well so that the law will soon show leniency.”

At the appeal hearing, the two defendants Xong Pa Cho and Tho Thi Gia Cua could not present any new mitigating circumstances related to the case. Through an interpreter, the two defendants stated that they were ethnic minorities with limited legal awareness and wished to have their sentences reduced so that they could return to their children soon and start a new life.

The appellate court found that although the two defendants did not present any new details related to the case. However, after a comprehensive review of the case, considering that the two defendants were in difficult circumstances, were ethnic minorities, illiterate, had limited legal awareness, and were husband and wife, the court accepted the appeal. The appellate court sentenced Xong Pa Cho to 4 years and 6 months in prison, and the defendant Tho Thi Gia Cua to 4 years in prison for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.

Despite the court’s reduced sentence, Cua still could not stop crying. The female defendant quickly turned to say goodbye to her children before returning to the detention center to await the day of execution. Just because of 200,000 VND, Cua and her husband had to go to prison, not only leaving great sadness for their children but also becoming a “blind example” for their descendants. Hopefully, both of them will realize the leniency of the law to reform well and soon return to rebuild their lives.