The justification of the 'thief' who stole half a billion from his neighbor and deposited it in the bank

"Thieves" right next door

27 years old, but this is the second time Pham Huy Hoang, residing in Quang Tien ward, Thai Hoa town, has appeared in court. Before becoming a "thief", Hoang was sentenced to 15 months in prison for illegal possession of drugs. In February 2021, Hoang completed his prison sentence and returned to his hometown with his wife and children.

As a father of three children, it was thought that after falling, Hoang would know how to change and become the pillar of the family to take care of his wife and children. However, Hoang fell again and got involved in drugs. Notably, this time he also stole property from the family of his next-door neighbor.

Defendant Pham Huy Hoang was sentenced to 8 years in prison for theft. Photo: Tran Vu

Regarding the case, at around 2:00 a.m. on August 29, 2022, Hoang walked from the motel to his house and found the door locked. At this time, Hoang climbed the Barringtonia acutangula tree in front of the house to enter the house from the second floor. Looking at the neighbor's house, Hoang saw that the window was unlocked, so he had the intention of stealing property.

Thinking is doing, Hoang walked from the air conditioner on the second floor of his house to the neighbor's advertisement board and broke in. Discovering that the house his neighbor used as a pharmacy was empty, Hoang walked down to the first floor.

After rummaging through the bag to get 6 million VND, Hoang continued to observe and discovered a drawer at the foot of the stairs. When he went to check, Hoang took 364 million VND rolled up inside the plastic bear. The 9 rings, 1 necklace and 14 gold pieces were kept in round boxes. Hoang put all the assets in the bag and escaped through the same route.

After returning to the motel, Hoang calculated how to use the stolen assets. The thief paid off some debts and used the money for personal expenses. With the remaining cash of about 235 million, Hoang deposited it into bank accounts under his name. As for the gold, Hoang hid it in his house.

Speaking of the victim, after discovering that her property was missing, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Th. (born in 1977) reported it to the police. On September 5, 2022, realizing that her actions were illegal, Pham Huy Hoang turned himself in to the police and honestly admitted to the theft.

The justification of “two fingers”

On the day of the trial of Pham Huy Hoang for the crime of Theft of Property, many relatives and friends of the defendant attended the court. On the victim's side, Ms. Th. requested to be tried in absentia.

In court, defendant Hoang said that his theft was impulsive. After returning from the motel, he saw that his wife had locked the door and that he had no key, so he had to climb a tree to get into his house. Seeing that his neighbor's window was not locked, his greed arose, leading to the crime.

When asked by the judge why he had his own house, lived with his wife and children, but rented a motel room and returned at 2am, Hoang explained, “That day, the defendant was angry with his wife, so he went out and rented a motel room. By early morning, because he was no longer angry, he returned home…”

The defendant admitted that he knew his neighbor was a pharmacist and often did not stay at night. The relationship between the two families was normal. Hoang expressed remorse and shame for stealing his neighbor's property.

After the incident, the defendant influenced the family to return all the money and gold to the victim. Ms. Th. did not attend the court but filed a petition for a reduced sentence for the defendant. In the petition, the victim stated that although she had received all of her property back, she asked for a reduced sentence for the defendant. However, Hoang still owed her an apology, the content of the petition was announced by the presiding judge in court.

At this time, Hoang bowed his head and apologized to the victim. At the same time, the defendant hoped that Ms. Th. would forgive him for his mistake so that he could have a chance to return to rebuild his life and support his wife and children.

Evidence of the case. Photo archive

The jury determined that the defendant's actions were dangerous to society and violated the property rights of others protected by law. The defendant was aware that his actions were illegal, but for personal gain, he intentionally committed the crime. The defendant's actions demonstrated contempt for the law and the property rights of others, causing insecurity and disorder in the locality, and therefore needed to be severely punished.

However, it is also necessary to consider some mitigating circumstances for the defendant such as honestly confessing, having remedied the consequences for the victim, the family having contributed to the revolution, the victim having petitioned for a reduced sentence for the defendant, having saved a drowning person...

Considering the case as a whole, the Trial Panel sentenced Pham Huy Hoang to 8 years in prison for theft of property.

Because of greed, Hoang not only had to pay the price with days in prison but also lived in torment for causing shame to his relatives and embarrassment to his neighbors...

Tran Vu