SON IN VIETNAM PRISON BETTER OFF DEAD: MOTHER

The mother of a Canadian man convicted on drug charges in Vietnam says her
son is unlikely to survive the 16-year prison sentence he received.

Randy Sachs, 26, and fellow Canadian Nguyen Van Hai, 40, were sentenced
Monday by a court in Ho Chi Minh City over a plot to smuggle Ecstasy
tablets from Europe. Mr. Hai received a 15-year sentence.

Dee Hogle says her son cannot endure the isolation and harsh conditions of
a Vietnamese prison for that long.

"There's no way he can, psychologically. The kid will be dead before then,"
Ms. Hogle said from her home in Beaverton, Ont.

Vietnam does not have a prisoner-exchange treaty with Canada and does not
usually give parole or early release. That means the two will likely have
to serve their full sentences in the Chi Hoa Detention Centre in Ho Chi
Minh City.

"(Monday), I felt like he had died," Ms. Hogle said. "I'm experiencing a
mourning period as if he passed away. It would be easier on the family if
he did. I hate to say it. It would be easier on him, too."

At the time of his arrest in May 2003, Mr. Sachs's family feared he would
be executed. Vietnam punishes drug cases harshly, even when foreigners are
involved. Canadian Nguyen Thi Hiep was convicted of smuggling five kilos of
heroin and shot by a firing squad in 2000, a move that sent Canada-Vietnam
relations into the deep freeze.

Ms. Hogle says it is the isolation from his family and his fiancee, who
lives in Hamilton, that will eventually kill her son. She said she had
received a single letter that had been smuggled out of the prison.

"He indicated 'go on with your life, you can't wait for me.' But she can't.
She's absolutely in love with him. It's like she's sentenced as well."