A Pasadena woman has been sentenced to 64 months in federal prison for stalking and making bomb threats against a U.S. consulate in Vietnam. Nathalie Nguyen, 40, received her sentence from United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, who also ordered her to pay $5,372 in restitution.
Nguyen pleaded guilty in April 2025 to one count of stalking and one count of threat by interstate commerce to kill another person and to damage or destroy buildings with fire and explosives. She has been held in federal custody since February 2024.
Court documents show that between April 2023 and February 2024, Nguyen stalked a victim identified as “T.H.” by sending emails threatening to kill him and his wife. One message included screenshots discussing payment to a hitman for the murder of the victim’s wife.
Nguyen also targeted five employees at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She impersonated T.H.’s wife on several occasions, including an August 2023 email where she threatened to “bomb the [expletive] consular in Ho Chi Minh City.”
In October 2023, Nguyen used T.H.’s email account without permission and sent a message to three government employees at the consulate stating: “i wil [sic] kill every [expletive] one of you who has been delaying issuing my wife visa.”
By January 2024, Nguyen—impersonating T.H.’s wife—sent another message through an online portal: “Device will be detonated at America consular in Saigon and in San Francisco. All of you will be exploded for causing my separation with my husband for this last year. Everything will be exploded around new year or after.”
The following month, she continued these threats by contacting both U.S. Embassy officials and the Vietnamese consulate about planned grenade attacks during lunar new year celebrations.
Prosecutors wrote: “[Nguyen’s] methods were technical and calculated,” adding that she stole identities, cut off electricity service for victims, interfered with their health insurance, researched specific employees’ family members, and used this information to intimidate them. “She stole her victims’ identities, cut off their electricity, and interfered with their health insurance. She researched specific Vietnamese Consulate employees, finding the names of their spouses, parents, and children, which she used to terrify the employees…[Nguyen’s] terror campaign upended her victims’ lives.”
The FBI investigated the case with support from the Diplomatic Security Service.
Assistant United States Attorney Diane B. Roldán of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California is responsible for prosecuting federal criminal cases such as this one while serving more than 19 million residents across seven counties including Los Angeles County. The office collaborates with law enforcement partners at various levels to ensure public safety throughout its jurisdiction.
