Southern California woman sentenced for threats to bomb U.S. Consulate and stalking
A Pasadena woman was sentenced to a little more than five years in federal prison for a stalking campaign and threatening to bomb the U.S. Consulate in Vietnam.
United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also ordered Nathalie Nguyen, 40, to pay $5,372 in restitution.
While she was indicted on four charges, Nguyen pleaded guilty to two charges: one of stalking and another for threatening to bomb the consulate in April 2025.
She's been in custody since Feb. 2024.
"She stole her victims' identities, cut off their electricity, and interfered with their health insurance," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "She researched specific Vietnamese Consulate employees, finding the names of their spouses, parents, and children, which she used to terrify the employees."
Nguyen stalked her initial victim between April 2023 and February 2024, according to the indictment provided by the Department of Justice. Nguyen sent emails threatening to kill the victim and his wife.
One of the messages contained screenshots of texts where she paid a hitman $15,000 to kill the man's wife, according to the DOJ. In addition to the threatening emails, she sent the victim multiple photographs of herself and multiple texts trying to solicit sex.
At around the same time, Nguyen started stalking five employees at the U.S. consulate located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
While impersonating the couple by using her victim and his wife's email accounts, Nguyen threatened to bomb the consulate on Aug. 7, 2023. She also impersonated the man and used his email account to send additional threats to three consulate employees, stating that if they delayed his wife's visa, he would kill every one of them.
The impersonations and bomb threats continued in January 2024, according to the DOJ. The indictment against her included multiple messages she sent to U.S. officials, threatening to bomb the American consulate in Vietnam while impersonating the victim and his wife.
"On Jan 26, 2024, my bomb will be exploded at the US embassy in Saigon, Vietnam. You guys caused a separation between me and my wife for almost a year causing problem issues for us. This is the price you have to pay," stated one of the messages included in the indictment.