Buying stolen chicken is sentenced to 9 months of non-custodial reform

According to the records, between December 27, 2016 and April 4, 2017, Le Van Thang and his accomplices committed many acts of theft with a total value of more than 42 million VND. Ms. Tam bought chickens from Le Van Thang and his accomplices four times. One time, Tam knew that the chickens were stolen by Thang and his accomplices, but she still bought them for 3 million VND to sell for profit.

The appeal trial of defendant Tran Thi Tam. Photo: Khanh An

On August 17, 2017, the People's Court of Do Luong district held a first-instance trial and sentenced Tam to 3 months in prison for receiving property obtained through criminal acts. Tam then filed an appeal to the appellate court, asking for a suspended sentence. At the appellate court, Tam presented her difficult circumstances, her husband had cerebral hemorrhage and paralysis, her children were still young, and Tam was the main mover in the family, asking for a lighter sentence.

The appellate panel held that allowing the defendant to receive non-custodial reform at the local level was sufficiently severe. Because the defendant was in difficult circumstances, had an unstable income, and was the main breadwinner in the family, no deductions were made from his income.

Tam has no criminal record, but on July 28, 2015, Tam was administratively punished by the Luu Son Commune Police with a fine for buying and selling property obtained by someone else through criminal means.

After considering the circumstances, the appellate panel accepted part of defendant Tam's appeal, amended the first instance judgment to change the sentence for the defendant, and sentenced defendant Tam to 9 months of non-custodial reform./.