Sentenced to death, 35-year-old defendant asks for sentence reduction...to live
(Baonghean.vn) - That was Lo Van Sao - a former illegal logger, familiar with the terrain, hired by Hung to directly deliver money to the seller and receive drugs from the Vietnam - Laos border area to bring deep into the interior before delivering to Hung.
On December 19, the High People's Court in Hanoi opened an appeal hearing in the case of illegal drug trafficking against defendants Lo Van Sao (35 years old, also known as Khoi, residing in Luc Da commune, Con Cuong district) and Pham Van Tung (28 years old, residing in Phu Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district).
Pham Van Hung (48 years old, residing in Phu Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district) has many criminal records. In June 2011, Pham Van Hung finished serving his sentence. However, old habits die hard, Hung continued to fall into sin, setting up a drug trafficking network from Laos to Vietnam.
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| Defendants Lo Van Sao and Pham Van Tung at the appeal hearing. Photo: Khanh An |
With a formidable past, Hung is considered a gangster boss in Yen Thanh. The drug ring run by Hung was formed in 2015 with the support of Pham Van Tung - Hung's nephew.
Hung's drug supplier was in Laos. Hung hired Lo Van Sao - a former illegal logger who was familiar with the terrain - to directly deliver money to the seller and receive drugs from the Vietnam - Laos border area and bring them deep into the country before delivering them to Hung.
After many successful deals, earning huge profits, in June 2017, Hung decided to "cast a big net", ordering 20 heroin cakes, 1kg of crystal meth and more than 1kg of synthetic drugs for 153,000 USD from a Laotian trader. Hung paid 70,000 USD and 300 million VND in advance, the rest would be paid after selling the goods.
According to Hung's assignment, on September 30, 2017, Lo Van Sao went to the Vietnam - Laos border area in Anh Son district to give money and receive drugs from Lao people. In the early morning of October 1, 2017, after receiving the drugs from Sao, Hung told Pham Van Tung to transport the drugs downstream by motorbike, while Hung would drive the car ahead to keep watch.
When arriving at Nam Son commune, Do Luong, Hung and his nephew were arrested with evidence of 20 heroin cakes (equivalent to 7kg) and more than 2.1kg of crystal meth and synthetic drugs. The estimated value of the drugs that the subjects bought and sold was nearly 3 billion VND. That same morning, Lo Van Sao went to the police station to confess.
On April 11, Nghe An Provincial People's Court held a first-instance trial and sentenced Hung and Sao to death and Tung to life in prison.
After that, Sao and Tung appealed to the appellate court to reduce their sentences. The commune police sent a document to the appellate court confirming that Tung had many achievements in reporting crimes, from which the police force arrested two gambling groups.
At the appeal hearing, the defense attorney for defendant Sao requested the panel of judges to consider the position and role of defendant Sao in the case. At the same time, consider whether defendant Sao committed the crime of illegal drug trafficking or illegal drug transportation. Because defendant Sao worked for Hung, held money for him and was not allowed to decide the price of drug trading. The representative of the Supreme People's Procuracy also requested to clarify the time when defendant Sao surrendered or confessed.
Therefore, the appellate panel postponed the above hearing for later consideration and trial.