Increased prison sentence for falsely declaring helping police detect crimes
(Baonghean.vn) - Nguyen Tat Dung went to the mountains to buy crystal meth for use and was discovered and arrested by the police. After the first instance verdict, Dung was appealed by the Procuracy to have his prison sentence increased because the mitigating circumstances that helped the police discover the crime were unfounded.
On January 11, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a criminal appeal trial of defendant Nguyen Tat Dung (born 1987), residing in Tan Son commune, Do Luong district, for the crime of "Illegal possession of narcotics". The trial was opened due to a protest by the People's Procuracy of Vinh city.
According to the indictment, on May 14, 2021, Nguyen Tat Dung took a bus to Tuong Duong district and asked a motorbike taxi driver to buy him 900,000 VND worth of crystal meth. After purchasing the "goods", Dung used the drugs twice, and concealed the rest in cigarette packs.
 |
| Defendant Nguyen Tat Dung had his prison sentence increased by the appeal court. Photo: Tran Vu |
The following afternoon, Dung took drugs to Vinh City to attend a friend’s birthday, then took a taxi to pick up his wife and children. While waiting, the police checked and discovered drugs packed in a cigarette pack with a weight of 0.19 grams.
In October 2021, Nguyen Tat Dung was sentenced by the court of first instance.sentence9 months in prison for "Illegal possession of drugs".
Afterwards, the People's Procuracy of Vinh City partially protested the first-instance criminal judgment of the People's Court of Vinh City regarding the application of the mitigating circumstance of "The offender actively cooperated with the responsible agency in detecting the crime or in the process of solving the case" to try under the penalty framework as unfounded.
At the same time, it is proposed that the appeal trial not allow the defendant to enjoy mitigating circumstances in Point 1, Clause 1, Article 51 of the Penal Code and increase the penalty above the starting level for defendant Dung.
At the appeal court, the representative of the People's Procuracy maintained the content of the appeal. Accordingly, on October 25, 2021, the People's Procuracy of Vinh City received an Official Dispatch from the Investigation Police Agency of Dak Nong Provincial Police in response to the Official Dispatch of the People's Procuracy of Vinh City, determining that Nguyen Tat Dung did not help this investigation agency detect crimes.
At the witness stand, Dung admitted not helping Dak Nong Provincial Police denounce and arrest criminals; at the same time, he presented his family's difficult circumstances and young children to ask for a lighter sentence.
The appellate panel determined that there was sufficient basis to consider the content of the appeal of the Vinh City People's Procuracy. Therefore, the first instance judgment against defendant Nguyen Tat Dung was amended to increase the sentence from 9 months to 12 months in prison.
Before being arrested in connection with this case, Dung had been imprisoned four times for theft and illegal possession of drugs.