Sentenced to prison for hiding fireworks in his home for retail sale.
(Baonghean.vn) - Ngo Van Thinh (Thanh Chuong) took advantage of the approaching Lunar New Year to order a large quantity of firecrackers and bring them home to sell retail. He was arrested while attempting to sell the "goods" for profit.
On July 30, 2019, the People's Court of Nghe An province held an appeal trial for defendant Ngo Van Thinh (born in 1991), residing in Hamlet 3, Thanh Van commune, Thanh Chuong district, on the charge of "Trading in prohibited goods".
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| Defendant Ngo Van Thinh at the trial. Photo: An Quynh. |
According to the indictment, at approximately 11:00 AM on November 22, 2018, in Thanh Van commune, Thanh Chuong district, the Thanh Chuong District Police discovered Ngo Van Thinh exhibiting suspicious behavior while exchanging a bag of "goods" with a man. After apprehending him and conducting a search, they found the bag contained two bundles of firecrackers, each containing 36 firecrackers, which the defendants were selling for over 8 million VND.
During an emergency search of the suspect's residence, police seized an additional 44 firework packages, each containing 36 firecrackers, of foreign origin. The total weight of the seized fireworks reached over 100 kg.
Ngo Van Thinh confessed that he had previously purchased the firecrackers from an unidentified man in the North and brought them home to hide, intending to sell them retail for profit near Tet (Lunar New Year). Each firecracker pack was purchased by the defendants for 600,000 VND and sold for 800,000 VND or more.
At the first-instance trial, the Thanh Chuong District People's Court sentenced the defendant Ngo Van Thinh to 60 months in prison for the crime of "trading in prohibited goods". Considering this sentence too harsh, the defendant filed an appeal, requesting a reduction in his sentence.
At the appeal hearing on the morning of July 30, the defendant maintained the content of his appeal and requested the panel of judges to reduce his sentence.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant's actions constituted a serious offense due to the relatively large quantity of prohibited goods. The defendant's testimony at the trial was consistent with his testimony at the first-instance trial, as well as other documents and evidence, therefore the first-instance court's verdict was correct in identifying the guilty party.
However, at today's trial, the defendant presented mitigating circumstances such as having helped victims and assisted the Thanh Chuong District investigating agency in the local case. All of these documents were confirmed by the local authorities and the government where the defendant resides.
Based on mitigating circumstances, the court decided to reduce the defendant's sentence from 60 months to 30 months imprisonment for the crime of "Trafficking in prohibited goods".
