Behind the life sentence

Sell ​​wedding gold to get capital for trading

Tran Van Khanh (born in 1986) was born into a large family in Thanh Long commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province. With a playful personality and wanting to earn money early, after finishing 9th grade, Khanh followed his friends to go out into society to "find a place" for himself. Being young and having no skills, after a while, Khanh returned home empty-handed.

At the age of 23, he met a girl from the same village, T. (born in 1989), who was obedient and pretty. Khanh fell in love with her and asked his parents to let him take her home. Witnessing the passionate love of the young couple, everyone believed that Khanh would mature and take care of his family. However, the new life with many temptations made Khanh continue to fall.

In 2012, Khanh agreed to buy drugs for a friend and was arrested. Khanh was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Thanh Chuong District People's Court for "Illegal drug trafficking". Not only that, the money to buy drugs was stolen by his friend, so Khanh had to serve an additional 30 months in prison for "Receiving property obtained by another person through crime".

By 2021, Khanh had completed his prison term and returned to his family and society. Everyone thought Khanh would work hard to earn money honestly to raise his wife and children. However, just 1 year later, Khanh was caught up in the law again, to the surprise of his wife, children and family. That was on a day close to the Lunar New Year of Nham Dan 2022, the family received news that Khanh was arrested by the Dien Chau Traffic Police Station. It turned out that Khanh was arrested while transporting more than 1.1 kg of heroin to earn money for Tet.

It is worth mentioning that at the Investigation Police Agency of Dien Chau District Police, Khanh confessed that he had 2 gold rings of 4 taels as souvenirs of the couple, but due to lack of money for the "goods", he gave them all to the subject in Laos as a deposit. Khanh planned that if he got a profit, he would spend the money to buy them back to compensate.

Late tears...

At the end of July 2022, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of Tran Van Khanh for "Illegal drug trafficking". This is not the first time Khanh has appeared before the Trial Council.

Despite the hot weather, Khanh's wife, children, and family members took a bus to attend the trial early in the morning. The children, who were not allowed to attend the trial, stood outside in the hallway. Occasionally, they looked in at Khanh. This errant father should have set an example for his children to follow. Khanh must have felt ashamed to let his children witness this.

At the trial, Khanh confessed to all the acts he had committed. It is known that during his time in prison, the defendant was in the same cell as Tran Anh Tai (residing in Hanoi), so they talked and became friends.

In February 2021, after being released from prison, Khanh went online to make friends with his former cellmate Tai. The two kept in touch regularly. On January 18, 2022, Tai contacted Khanh to hire him to transport drugs to Hanoi and would pay him 23 million VND. Seeing the generous pay, Khanh agreed, so late that night he hurried to the area near Thanh Thuy Border Gate, Thanh Chuong District to meet the Laotians.

However, to get the goods, the Lao people asked Khanh to deposit money before they could get the drugs. Without money, Khanh took off 2 rings and gave them to the seller to get the "goods". The two sides agreed that after getting the money from Tai, the seller would deduct the money from Khanh.

Khanh took the drugs home, got some more stuff, and took a taxi to Hanoi that night. When the car reached Dien Chau town, the police arrested him with more than 1.1 kg of drugs.

When asked by the Trial Council about the reason for reoffending after being released from prison, Tran Van Khanh bowed his head and explained that because of the epidemic, business was difficult and Tet was coming, so he bought and sold drugs to earn money to give to his wife and children for Tet.

Having the last word, Tran Van Khanh asked the jury to give him a chance to live so that his children would still have a father. After speaking, Khanh's voice choked up, his eyes red. Having the last word, the defendant shed tears of belated repentance. During the deliberation, Khanh repeatedly apologized to his young children.

During the deliberation, his wife brought her children closer to talk to Khanh. Seeing the children, Khanh burst into tears. Perhaps now, Khanh could only continuously apologize to his children. “I’m sorry, my children, I’m sorry!” Hearing those words from their father, the children also burst into tears. Khanh told his wife and children to take care of their health. The defendant also did not forget to ask relatives to help his wife and children in life.

With the aggravating circumstance of dangerous recidivism, Tran Van Khanh was sentenced to life in prison for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking"...