20-year sentence for 68-year-old man for drug trafficking
Having been to prison four times, Tran Xuan Vinh has yet to turn around and reform. When he was old and his hair was already gray, Vinh was arrested again for drug trafficking. And now, in his twilight years, this man has to live in prison.
"In prison, out of prison"
One day in early July, defendant Tran Xuan Vinh (68 years old), residing in Trung Phuc Cuong commune, Nam Dan district, was escorted to the People's Court of Nghe An province to be tried for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking". In this case, defendant Duong Duc Hieu (33 years old), residing in Nghia Hong commune, Nghia Dan district, was also prosecuted for the crime of "Illegal possession of drugs".
Due to his leg disability, Vinh had difficulty walking. That was also the reason why he was allowed to sit during the trial. Vinh stated that he had been disabled since he was about 7 or 8 years old. Since then, his walking and life have been difficult.
But what makes Vinh famous is his “history” of crimes. In 1982, when he was a young man of 26, Vinh received his first sentence of 18 months in prison for theft of socialist property. Three years later, Tran Xuan Vinh was sentenced to 12 months in prison for drug trafficking.
After serving his prison sentence, Vinh once lived in Ho Chi Minh City. It was thought that in a foreign land, this man would work hard and find an honest job. But Vinh got involved with drugs and was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court for illegal possession of drugs in 1993.
Three times on trial is still not the end for this man. In 2002, Tran Xuan Vinh was sentenced by the People's Court of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province to 20 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking and an additional fine of 10 million VND.
Thanks to his good behavior, Vinh was released from prison early. Returning to his hometown after a long time in prison, Vinh was welcomed with open arms by his relatives, wife and children to start a new life. His painful legs made it increasingly difficult for him to walk, so his relatives always hoped that Vinh would reform and live peacefully with his children and grandchildren. However, Vinh still had the same bad habits. This time, Tran Xuan Vinh was arrested with a large amount of drugs that he said he bought to sell to customers.
According to the indictment, around May 2023, with the purpose of buying drugs to sell gradually, Vinh took 133 million VND and took a bus to Que Phong district to buy drugs from an unknown subject. Vinh took the above drugs home and hid them in many different locations. After that, this subject went to buy an electronic scale to divide them into many packages, hid them in the wardrobe, put them in milk cartons and put them in the refrigerator...
A few months later, Vinh met Duong Duc Hieu at a coffee shop in Hung Tan commune, Hung Nguyen district. Hieu was a drug addict, so when he learned that Vinh had heroin, he immediately ordered it. At this meeting, the two exchanged phone numbers to carry out the drug transaction.
From November 2023 to mid-December 2023, Tran Xuan Vinh sold heroin to Hieu twice. The first time, Vinh sold Hieu a package of heroin for 1 million VND. After using up all the drugs, Hieu continued to contact him to buy "goods". On December 18, at Yen Xuan bridge area (Trung Phuc Cuong commune, Nam Dan district), Hieu bought a package of drugs from Vinh.
After that, Hieu went to buy drug paraphernalia and was stopped by the police due to suspicions. When he saw the police, Hieu immediately swallowed the package of drugs he had just bought. However, he then voluntarily drank water and vomited the package. Based on Hieu’s statement, the police searched the house and arrested Vinh along with the drugs.
The investigation agency determined that Tran Xuan Vinh must bear criminal responsibility for selling drugs twice with a total weight of more than 524 grams. Hieu must bear criminal responsibility for possessing 0.32 grams of drugs.
Price
On his fifth appearance in court, defendant Vinh calmly answered the jury's questions. He admitted that he had been tried many times before for drug-related crimes. "Having been tried many times, why did you reoffend? Did you disregard the law?", in response to the jury's question, Vinh stated that he had been dealing drugs due to a long-term illness.
However, the defendant's testimony was reminded by the panel of judges because it was impossible to use illness as an excuse to justify his illegal behavior, especially when he had been imprisoned many times for opium and drugs. At this time, the defendant remained silent and then admitted to all the crimes. The defendant admitted to drug trafficking for profit.
During the interrogation, the defendant also confessed to hiding the drugs in a milk carton, then putting them in the refrigerator and hiding them in the wardrobe. The defendant confessed to hiding the drugs in these locations to avoid detection by the police. However, after Hieu was arrested, the defendant's crime was exposed. At the trial, the defendant presented his illness and old age to ask the court to consider reducing his sentence.
Meanwhile, defendant Hieu confessed to buying drugs for his own use. He confessed to having used drugs for more than ten years. This time, when he returned to his wife’s hometown, he used money from relatives visiting his wife who had just given birth to buy drugs for his own use. Faced with the verdict, the defendant asked the court to reduce his sentence so he could return to his young child soon.
For the crime of illegal possession of narcotics, defendant Duong Duc Hieu was sentenced to 2 years in prison. As for defendant Tran Xuan Vinh, the court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.
Entering prison for the 5th time at an old age with a 20-year sentence, Vinh's already difficult steps became even more difficult...