A Dong Nai court sentenced Nguyen Vu Hoang Nam, 29, to 20 years, while Tran Tuan Anh, 26, got 19 years for robbing a toll station on the Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway nearly five months ago.

"Their actions were extremely dangerous to society and a severe punishment is required," the court said on Thursday.

Both men were employees of the Vietnam Expressway Services Engineering JSC, which manages the expressway connecting Dong Nai with HCMC and the beach town Vung Tau.

On February 7, the duo, wearing black coats, masks and sport shoes, entered the toll station’s accounting room and threatened its three employees with guns and knives. They took money from a safe before escaping on motorbike.

Around three kilometers from the crime scene, Anh fell off the motorbike and injured his legs, so he found a place to rest. Nam also left the motorbike and hitchhiked to Saigon, more than an hour away.

Nam then told Anh on the phone to go to Saigon and receive $2,150 first, while the rest would be divided once "things die down." At approximately 11 p.m., the pair was arrested by the police at the Saigon Railway Station when they met up to divide the money. They seized around VND2.1 billion robbed from the toll station and returned it to the expressway company.

The court also ordered the duo to refund more than VND100 million of the robbed money that they had spent before they were caught.