The young father's justification for borrowing money from a friend who sells 'white goods'

Birds of a feather flock together

Nguyen Tien Dung (born in 1989), residing in Duc Huong commune, Vu Quang district (Ha Tinh) and Hoang Van Luc (born in 1993), residing in Giai Xuan commune, Tan Ky district (Nghe An) although not from the same hometown, the two are quite close because they spent a long time working for hire and living in the South. They also have in common that they used to havecriminal record.

Nguyen Tien Dung confessed to borrowing money from a friend to trade drugs. Photo: Tran Vu

During his time living in Binh Duong, in 2011 Dung was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison for “Robbery, Illegal detention”. In early 2017, after being released from prison early, Dung continued to choose Binh Duong to rebuild his life. But then, Dung got involved in gambling again and was prosecuted for gambling. Up to now, Dung is waiting for trial for this crime.

Not inferior to you, Hoang Van Luc was also sentenced by the court to 12 months in prison with a suspended sentence for theft of property.

Despite having lived through prison, the couple did not take it as a lesson for themselves. Instead, they discussed and colluded with each other to buy and sell drugs.

Specifically, at the end of July 2021, Dung contacted Luc and said he had drugs to sell. Dung promised Luc that if he could introduce anyone to buy drugs, he would pay him.

Listening to his friend, Luc introduced and connected Dung to sell drugs to a man named Thao in Tan Ky district. Through discussion, Thao ordered 500 grams of drugs from Dung for 100 million VND.

To have "goods" to sell to customers, on August 7, 2021, Dung went to Bong market area, Vu Quang district, to buy 300 grams from a man of unknown origin, for 57 million VND.

Early the next morning, Dung took the drugs and took a taxi from Ha Tinh to Tan Ky district with his wife and children. When he arrived at his wife's parents' house, Dung hid the drugs in the garden and went inside to eat. After that, Dung asked Luc to take him to Thao's house to deliver the drugs.

However, when they arrived, Thao was not home. Therefore, the two went to the dirt road in Tan Long commune and were checked by Tan Ky district police. Seeing the police, Dung threw drugs (weighing more than 300 grams) into the bushes along the road but was discovered by the police. Searching Dung, the police seized more than 142 million VND.

Drug loan borrower's excuse

Nguyen Tien Dung and Hoang Van Luc were both prosecuted and brought to trial for the crime of illegal drug trafficking. At the trial, Dung admitted to his crime. Regarding the motive for the crime, Dung stated that because he had just brought his wife and children back from the South to his hometown to start a business, life was difficult, so he trafficked drugs.

The young wife of defendant Dung followed her husband to court. Photo: Tran Vu

“The defendant stated that life was difficult, so where did the money of more than 142 million VND come from?”, the court asked. At this time, Dung firmly affirmed that the money had nothing to do with drug trafficking. “That money was saved by the couple, including the defendant’s salary from work, his wife’s maternity allowance, and the money from transferring the shop before returning to her hometown. The defendant intended to use that money to renovate the house,” Dung stated in court.

“So where did the defendant get the money to buy drugs?”, in response to the court’s question, Dung stated that “the defendant borrowed 57 million from friends”. Dung said he kept it a secret so his wife and relatives did not know. Regarding the amount of more than 142 million VND that the authorities are temporarily confiscating, the defendant asked the court to consider returning it so that “his wife can have money to raise the children…”.

Dung's young wife came to court to present her family's difficult circumstances, currently raising a young child alone. Dung's parents also submitted a petition to the court to present their son's difficult circumstances, the couple has no assets, currently living with his parents, asking for a reduced sentence.

In addition, the court also received a petition confirming that the defendant Dung had contributed money to support the locality to install security cameras and denounced the gambling case to the Duc Huong Commune Police, Vu Quang District. The defendant Dung expressed remorse and asked the court to consider reducing his sentence.

Unlike defendant Dung, defendant Luc denied the crime and did not admit to drug trafficking. Luc said he did not know about drug trafficking between Dung and his customers. However, after the trial, Luc admitted to the crime.

The panel of judges determined that the criminal acts of the two defendants were dangerous to society. The two defendants had been tried but did not take it as a lesson and did not try to improve themselves. After a comprehensive review of the case, the court sentenced the two defendants Nguyen Tien Dung and Hoang Van Luc to 20 years in prison each.

Hearing the court announce the 20-year prison sentence, Dung's eyes turned red and he quickly looked at his young wife. While Dung was advising his wife, the judge announced that the defendant would soon have to appear in court for gambling, causing him to cry. Spending his entire youth in prison was the price that Dung himself had chosen, not anyone else...