Sentenced to prison for hiding fireworks in house for retail sale
(Baonghean.vn) - Ngo Van Thinh (Thanh Chuong) took advantage of the Lunar New Year holiday to order a large quantity of firecrackers and then brought them home to hide and sell them retail. While he was taking the "goods" to sell for profit, he was arrested.
On July 30, 2019, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened an appeal trial of defendant Ngo Van Thinh (born 1991), residing in Hamlet 3, Thanh Van Commune, Thanh Chuong District, for the crime of "Trading in prohibited goods".
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| Defendant Ngo Van Thinh at trial. Photo: An Quynh. |
According to the indictment, at around 11:00 a.m. on November 22, 2018, in Thanh Van commune, Thanh Chuong district, Thanh Chuong district police discovered that Ngo Van Thinh had many suspicious signs when exchanging a bag of "goods" with a man. After being caught red-handed and searched, the bag of "goods" above contained 2 firecrackers, 36 pieces in total, which the defendants sold for more than 8 million VND.
During an emergency search of the suspect's residence, the police seized 44 more firecrackers, 36 of which were foreign-made, bringing the total weight of the seized firecrackers to more than 100 kg.
Ngo Van Thinh clearly stated that he had previously bought the above firecrackers from the North from an unknown man and then brought them home to hide and sell them for profit near Tet. Each firecracker was bought by the defendants for 600,000 VND and sold for 800,000 VND or more.
At the first instance trial, Thanh Chuong District People’s Court sentenced defendant Ngo Van Thinh to 60 months in prison for “trafficking in prohibited goods”. Believing that this sentence was too harsh, the defendant filed an appeal. The defendant asked for a reduction in his sentence.
At the appeal hearing on the morning of July 30, the defendant maintained the appeal and asked the panel of judges to reduce the sentence.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions were serious because the quantity of contraband was relatively large. The defendant’s testimony at trial was consistent with his testimony at the first instance trial, along with other documents and evidence, so the first instance court’s verdict was correct.
However, at today's trial, the defendant presented mitigating documents such as the defendant had helped the victim and helped the Thanh Chuong District Investigation Agency investigate the case locally. All of these were confirmed by the local authorities and the place of residence.
Based on mitigating circumstances, the panel decided to sentence the defendant from 60 months in prison to 30 months in prison for the crime of "Trafficking in prohibited goods".
