Man sentenced for plotting to bomb Vietnam embassy in Phillipines
LOS ANGELES - A Vietnamese-American was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison Wednesday as part of a plea deal in which he admitted his part in a plot to bomb Vietnam's embassy in the Philippines.
Vinh Tan Nguyen, a member of the Garden Grove, California-based exile group Government of Free Vietnam, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder after pleading guilty last month to one charge of misusing a U.S. passport to aid in an act of terrorism.
Nguyen, 51, admitted using his brother's passport in 2001 to fly from Los Angeles to Manila, where he lived in homes that stored explosives intended for use on Vietnamese government facilities.
He also confessed to testing bombs in Manila and to writing letters discussing ways to smuggle bomb parts into Vietnam.
Nguyen had faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a $250,000 (€170,000) fine.
Messages left for attorneys with the Department of Justice and the Federal Public Defender's office after business hours Wednesday night were not immediately returned.
About 200 protesters picketed the courthouse calling for Nguyen's release. They included Nguyen Khanh, former Vietnamese head of state in the 1960s and the leader of Government of Free Vietnam, who called Nguyen a "freedom fighter."
Nguyen, who has permanent residency status in the United States, still faces charges in the Philippines.
Nguyen's brother Vo Van Duc, who is a member of the same exile group, was sentenced to 12 years in prison last month for attempting to bomb the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok in 2001.
The Associated Press - November 15, 2007.
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