Huy Huu Lee's life was scarred by the unsolved murder of his younger brother, his mother's death, Communist persecution, and appalling treatment as a child refugee in Hong Kong by the time he began dealing cannabis in Canberra.
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His traumatic backstory has been told during ACT Supreme Court sentencing proceedings over the past month, as a judge sought to understand the circumstances of his use and trafficking of cannabis in recent years.
Lee, 45, was born in Communist North Vietnam, and he was targeted due to his family's links to the French and the south.
While still a juvenile, Lee was able to escape to Hong Kong by boat, and spent a lengthy stretch in a refugee camp, where he was again treated poorly.
His father's cousin, noted human rights activist and migration agent Marion Le, told the ACT Supreme Court last month that many North Vietnamese were kept in cages in Hong Kong refugee camps, which she described as some of the worst in the world at the time.
Eventually, Lee was able to get to Australia in 1989. But more trauma awaited him.
His brother was killed in 1996 after someone forced him to ingest heroin until he overdosed.
The killer was never found, something Ms Le told the court last month had an "absolutely devastating" impact on everyone in the family, particularly Lee.
Ms Le was visibly distressed as she spoke of the unsolved murder.
"Look at the effect on me, and I'm not his brother and this was his little brother, and we still don't know [what happened]," she said.
In 2013, Lee's mother died, an incident which again affected him greatly, bringing back bad memories of his brother.
It was during the year of his mother's death that Le, who at that stage was smoking cannabis daily, trafficked significant amounts the drug.
The ACT Supreme Court heard the trafficking must have been partially motivated by profit.
Lee sold more than five kilograms, which the court estimated to be worth $36,000, to one man, who went on to sell some of the drug to others.
Justice John Burns found on Tuesday that Lee had good prospects for rehabilitation.
He had no criminal history, and pleaded guilty during his trial earlier this year, a move that had some utilitarian value and showed some remorse.
Justice Burns imposed a sentence of 13 months' imprisonment, to be served by six months of weekend detention.
The sentence will then be suspended.
Lee will undergo drug and alcohol and grief counselling.
