The People's Procuracy appealed the death penalty, the court sentenced the 'female monster' drug dealer to life in prison
(Baonghean.vn) - After the court of first instance sentenced Tran Le My to life in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking", the People's Procuracy appealed to increase the death penalty for this defendant.
On November 27, at the People's Court of Nghe An province, the Hanoi High People's Court brought defendant Tran Le My (born 1976), residing in Hong Son ward (Vinh city) to the appeal trial for the crime of "Illegal trading of narcotics". The trial was opened due to an appeal by the Nghe An Provincial Procuracy requesting an increase in the sentence for defendant My.
According to the indictment, on November 15, 2018, My received a call from a woman named Huong (Hanoi) who ordered 50 packages of pink meth for 5 million VND/package. My agreed, so Huong transferred 250 million VND to My's bank account.
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| Defendant Tran Le My. Photo: Tran Vu |
After that, My contacted a man in Laos named Tung to buy 50 packages of opium, but this person informed that he only had 30 packages and sold them for 3.5 million VND/package. My transferred 105 million VND to Tung to make the purchase.
On November 26, 2018, My sent 30 packages of drugs by bus to Hanoi for Huong for 150 million VND. A day later, Huong continued to order from My 2 heroin cakes for 320 million VND, 40 packages of pink phien (priced at 5 million VND/package), 1 kg of crystal meth for 280 million VND.
Also on November 27, Nguyen Thi Hao called My to buy 20 million VND worth of ketamine. My agreed. At this time, My continued to call Tung to order 2 more heroin cakes, 1 kg of crystal meth, 40 packages of pink meth, 500 grams of ketamine for a total of 700 million VND. My sent Tung 490 million VND in advance, and deferred the rest.
At 12:00 on November 30, 2018, Tung sent someone to deliver drugs to My by motorbike. At 3:30 p.m. the same day, Hao took a bus from Thanh Hoa City to My's house to get the drugs. After receiving the "goods", Hao was arrested by Vinh City Police on his way home. The seized evidence was 298.685 grams of ketamine.
From Hao's testimony, the investigation agency conducted an emergency search of Tran Le My, seizing 66.41 grams of ketamine, 889.215 grams of methamphetamine, 805.415 grams of methamphetamine (tablet form), and 705.6 grams of heroin.
At the first instance trial held at the end of July 2019, the People's Court of Nghe An province sentenced Tran Le My to life in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking" and Nguyen Thi Hao to 12 years in prison for "Illegal drug possession".
After the first instance verdict, the defendants did not appeal, but the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province protested, requesting to increase the sentence for Tran Le My from life imprisonment to death penalty.
The reason for the increased sentence, according to the prosecutor, is that the court of first instance did not properly consider the amount of drugs My declared at home. In addition, the defendant also had the aggravating circumstance of being a dangerous recidivist because My had a previous conviction related to drugs.
At the trial, the prosecutor maintained his opinion. Defendant My requested the court to maintain the life sentence as in the first instance verdict.
The panel of judges determined that the court of first instance had let the crime go unpunished, failing to consider the amount of drugs My had declared at home. However, the fact that the defendant had honestly confessed and declared the amount of drugs she had hidden was a mitigating circumstance. Furthermore, the defendant was a woman, so it was necessary to consider the humaneness of the case. Therefore, the court decided to uphold the sentence against Tran Le My, sentencing her to life in prison.