The Dong Nai Provincial People’s Court held an appellate trial and sentenced defendant Le Duong (33 years old, former deputy director of Thanh Buoi Co., Ltd.) to two years in prison for ordering a person who does not meet the conditions to drive a means of transport to participate in road traffic.
At the same time, the court sentenced defendant Hoang Van Tinh (38 years old, Thanh Buoi bus driver) to 11 years and six months in prison for violating regulations on road traffic participation.
Thus, Tinh’s sentence remains unchanged from the previous sentence handed down by the Dinh Quan District People’s Court. Duong’s sentence, however, was reduced by six months, from two years and six months in the original verdict.
Defendant Duong (left) received a reduced sentence, while defendant Tinh’s sentence remained unchanged.
According to the verdict, Tinh was a driver for Thanh Buoi Co., Ltd. (headquartered in District 5, Ho Chi Minh City), which was managed by defendant Duong. Tinh had his driver’s license revoked by the Lam Dong Provincial Police Traffic Wardens from August 5 to November 5, 2023, for speeding violations.
Around midnight on September 30, 2023, Tinh drove the Thanh Buoi passenger car with license plate 50F-004.83 from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat, Lam Dong Province. At approximately 2:25 am on the same day, at km48 on National Highway 20 (in Phu Vinh commune, Dinh Quan district), Tinh failed to maintain a safe distance and collided with a 16-seat passenger car with license plate 86B-015.75 driven by Nguyen Van Canh (34 years old, from Binh Thuan province) which was carrying eight passengers and traveling in the opposite direction.
The accident resulted in five deaths and four injuries (all on Mr. Canh’s vehicle, including the driver), with property damage exceeding VND 660 million.
At the appellate trial, the Dong Nai Provincial People’s Court held that although Tinh had his driver’s license revoked, he still did not comply and continued to drive, using a fake license, which directly caused the serious consequences of loss of life and property damage.
Therefore, the court found the sentence to be appropriate and not excessive as claimed in Tinh’s appeal.
In the case of defendant Duong, the court considered that Duong and his family had continued to compensate and visit the families of the victims; the victims’ families had also petitioned for leniency for the defendant. Additionally, Duong’s father passed away during his detention pending the appellate trial, causing difficulties for the company’s production and business activities. Taking into account the family’s contributions to social and charitable activities, the court decided to partially reduce Duong’s sentence to demonstrate the magnanimity of the law.
Based on these considerations, the appellate panel partially accepted Duong’s appeal and amended the Dinh Quan District People’s Court’s original criminal sentence for Duong due to new circumstances.
