An Oklahoma man found guilty of perjury by a Yavapai County jury last month was sentenced to more than two years in jail on Tuesday, according to authorities.
Binh Phuong Nguyen, 31, of Oklahoma City, is already serving a four-year jail sentence, according to the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.
The judge ruled that Nguyen would serve a concurrent sentence, so even though he received a 2.25-year sentence, the perjury conviction will not lengthen his prison term.
Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane was dissatisfied with the outcome.
“Although the sentence handed down will not require Nguyen to serve even an extra day in prison above the 4 years he was previously serving, the sentence was within the limits of the current law,” McGrane said in a Thursday announcement.
While the sentence was legitimate, he considers it insufficient.
“Therefore, I will be working with our local legislators to fix this problem for the future to require an appropriate and fitting punishment,” McGrane said.
Why is Oklahoma man being sentenced for perjury in Arizona?
Prosecutors said Nguyen’s sentence stems from a traffic stop performed by a deputy with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office on June 20, 2023.
Nguyen drove a car with Vinh Duong, 32, in the front passenger seat. Both men’s sons sat in the back seat.
Deputies who searched the car discovered one kilogram of cocaine, 1,000 counterfeit Adderall pills laced with methamphetamine, and a gun in the trunk, according to prosecutors.
Duong and Nguyen drove 23 hours with their children from Oklahoma City to San Jose, California, to purchase the medications for $16,000.
The two guys were on their way back to Oklahoma when sheriff’s deputies stopped them in Ash Fork, according to prosecutors.