Having 2 criminal records for drug trafficking and still justifying... because he is afraid his children will drop out of school

(Baonghean.vn)- In court, Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh shed tears, claiming that she sold drugs to earn money to pay for her child's school fees. However, this reason could not convince the jury because this was the third time the defendant sold white death.

The trial of Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh (born in 1975, residing in Thach Dien commune, Thach Ha, Ha Tinh) took place quite quickly because Thanh admitted all her crimes. Except for a friend in Vinh who came and paid Thanh 200,000 VND in court fees, none of Thanh's relatives attended the trial. "I don't have a husband (in fact, Thanh and her husband have been divorced for a long time - PV). My children just had a grandchild, the two younger ones are working as servants...", Thanh burst into tears.

Thanh has four children, the oldest born in 1992, the youngest born in 2004. When the oldest was only 8 years old, Thanh was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison by the People's Court of Ha Tinh province for illegal drug trafficking. However, because he was raising his young children, Thanh was granted a stay of execution.

Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh cried in court.

In 2005, Thanh was arrested again and sentenced to 9 years in prison by the People's Court of Ha Tinh province for the same crime. Combining both sentences, Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh had to serve a sentence of 13 years and 4 months in prison (excluding time in detention). On April 14, 2015, Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh completed her prison sentence.

“During my time in prison, my two older children worked to support themselves, while my two younger children had to work for others. When I got out of prison, I took them home to go to school, to make up for some of their losses,” Thanh confided.

At the end of 2015, Thanh was invited by a friend to visit Vinh City. Knowing that Thanh was preparing to go to Vinh, Nguyen Dinh Nam (living in Thach Ha town) asked Thanh to help him buy a heroin tree, and Nam would pay him 1 million VND. Nam gave Thanh 15 million VND, telling him to "call if you need more".

On January 1, 2016, Thanh went to Vinh City and asked an acquaintance to help him buy heroin. Through the acquaintance, Thanh bought heroin hidden in a cigarette pack and brought it to Ha Tinh. While waiting to catch a bus home, he encountered a working group from the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department of the provincial police coming to inspect. Thanh threw the package of drugs on the ground and was discovered, arrested and a record was made of the crime caught in the act.

The appraisal results showed that the drugs Thanh seized were heroin weighing 36.79 grams and 0.31 grams of methamphetarmine.

“The defendant knew that his actions were wrong and he was very remorseful. But at that time, his child needed money to pay his tuition, the teacher urged him but he had no money. He was afraid that his child would have to drop out of school, so when Nam said he would pay him 1 million VND, he agreed to buy drugs for Nam to have money to pay his child’s tuition,” Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh sobbed.

Hearing Thanh justify his crime, the People's Judge said: "Not everyone who is in trouble sells drugs. Think about it, if everyone was in trouble and sold drugs like you, what would happen? You have sold drugs twice, this is the third time. You have to look back at yourself. This is not because you love your child, but because you are affecting your child."

The judge of the trial, Vi Van Chat, also said that the defendant’s love for his children could not be used as an excuse for his criminal behavior. “In addition to the mother’s love for her children, this is also the defendant’s addiction to drugs. Having been involved in drug trafficking three times and serving more than 13 years in prison, the defendant also knows how disadvantaged his children have been compared to other children. If he loved his children, after serving the previous two sentences, he should have worked hard to make up for them, not continue to deal in drugs for the third time like this,” said judge Vi Van Chat.

Speaking her final words before the panel of judges deliberated, Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh asked the court to consider reducing the defendant’s sentence: “The defendant’s eldest daughter just gave birth, and gave birth to twins, while her son-in-law was studying far away. The two younger children had to drop out of school and are now working as servants. I hope the court will reduce the defendant’s sentence so that the defendant can return soon to make up for her children. The defendant is very remorseful for her criminal behavior.”

The panel of judges determined that Thanh’s actions were dangerous, a case of dangerous recidivism, requiring a sentence that was sufficiently deterrent. However, during the trial, the defendant confessed honestly, repented, and her family had contributed to the revolution... These are mitigating circumstances according to the law. After considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel of judges sentenced Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh to 13 years in prison.

After hearing the judge announce the verdict, Nguyen Thi Hoai Thanh stayed behind to thank the panel of judges and the representative of the provincial People's Procuracy, then calmly got into the car and returned to the prison. On Thanh's face, the tears of "love for her child" had long since dried!

Nhu Binh