Late tears of a woman from Hau Giang to Nghe An to sell drugs

At the first instance trial, while the two defendants Nguyen Minh Truc (born in 1985, residing in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City) and Mua Nhia Vu (born in 1981, residing in Kham Cot district, Bolykhamxay province, Lao People's Democratic Republic) admitted all their crimes, Le Thuy Trang (born in 1986, residing in Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang) always insisted that she was innocent. Trang and her accomplices were prosecuted by the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province to be brought before the court for trial for the crime of "Illegal trading of narcotics".

The "gift" worth more than half a billion dong

Trang is a beautiful girl, but her marriage with her husband, who is 4 years younger than her, was not smooth and peaceful. After having 3 children together, Trang and her husband went their separate ways. Some time later, Trang had an affair with Nguyen Minh Truc, a man who had been married before. However, Trang did not expect that this love affair would lead her to another tragedy.
Around November 2017, Truc asked Trang for her bank account number so a friend could deposit money into it for “work.” Truc then asked Trang to withdraw 320 million VND from the account and bring it from Ho Chi Minh City to Nghe An. Trang followed Truc’s instructions without knowing that this was the amount of money someone had deposited with Truc to buy drugs.

On November 8, 2017, when arriving in Nghe An, after giving money to two men at Vinh Bus Station, Trang received a phone call from Truc, asking him to follow the two men to Tuong Duong to receive the "gift". Because he did not have the "goods", the other man returned 320 million VND to Trang. At noon of the same day, Truc received 220 million VND from the person who ordered the drugs and gave it to Trang to meet a man named Mua Nhia Vu to get the "gift". Truc and Vu agreed to deliver the goods at the center of Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province.

Defendant Le Thuy Trang in court. Photo: Nhu Binh

On the morning of November 10, Truc and Trang rented a car from Vinh City to the center of Huong Son district. When they arrived at Hong Linh town, Ha Tinh province, Truc complained of being tired because of diabetes, so he told Trang to go to the center of Huong Son to get the "gift" to bring back. After receiving the goods from Vu, Trang took the bus back to Bai Vot to give to Truc, but was caught red-handed by Vinh City Police, who confiscated 4 kg of crystal meth. Mua Nhia Vu was also arrested later.

At the trial, Mua Nhia Vu and Nguyen Minh Truc admitted their crimes. Le Thuy Trang, however, insisted that she was innocent. Trang claimed that Truc asked her to go get the "gift" but did not know that the "gift" was drugs. However, this argument did not convince the panel of judges. Although in this case, Le Thuy Trang only played the role of an accomplice, the defendant was evasive and denied her crime to the end, so she was not entitled to any mitigating circumstances. The panel of judges of the People's Court of Nghe An province sentenced all three defendants Mua Nhia Vu, Nguyen Minh Truc and Le Thuy Trang to life in prison.

I wish I could come back to you

All three defendants Truc, Vu and Trang filed appeals for a reduction in their sentences to the High People's Court in Hanoi. At the first instance and appeal hearings, perhaps the only consolation for Trang was that Truc admitted all his crimes, claiming that Trang had nothing to do with the drug trafficking. Therefore, when the appeal hearing took place, Truc voluntarily withdrew his appeal, accepting the life sentence handed down by the first instance court.
Unlike the first instance trial, at the appeal trial held in early December 2018, Le Thuy Trang admitted that she knew the "gift" was drugs. Therefore, the defendant was not wrongly prosecuted and tried for "Illegal drug trafficking". "During my time in prison, I had a lot of time to reflect on my crimes. I am very remorseful, and I am also seriously ill. I hope the panel of judges will consider and reduce my sentence so that I have the opportunity to return to raise my three children and take care of my elderly parents," Le Thuy Trang burst into tears. At the trial, Trang also provided some additional documents showing that her grandmother was a Vietnamese Heroic Mother, and her uncle and grandfather were martyrs.
The appellate panel determined that Le Thuy Trang had honestly confessed to all her crimes and that her family had contributed to the revolution. These were new circumstances that were favorable to the defendant, and therefore needed to be considered to demonstrate the leniency of the law. Reviewing the case, based on the new circumstances that emerged at the appeal hearing, the High People's Court panel decided to accept the appeal, amend the first instance judgment, and sentence Le Thuy Trang to 20 years in prison. As for defendant Mua Nhia Vu, because there were no new favorable circumstances, the appeal was dismissed and the first instance judgment was upheld.
From a life sentence reduced to a fixed term, the way back home for the woman who helped her lover traffic drugs has been shortened. 20 years is not a short time, but if she is determined enough to rebuild her life, Trang can fulfill her wish to support her parents and raise her children to be good people.

Nhu Binh