A Pasadena woman has admitted to a bizarre and frightening series of actions, including a stalking campaign that spanned from California to Vietnam, ultimately threatening to bomb the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. 39-year-old Natalie Nguyen pleaded guilty to federal charges of stalking and making interstate threats to kill and damage buildings by fire and explosives, the Justice Department reported on Thursday.
Nguyen has been behind bars since her arrest in February 2024, after she sent multiple threats via email and online portals to her victims, identified only as "T.H." and T.H.’s wife in court documents, and to several government employees working at the consulate. One of the more distressing pieces of evidence included an email that mentioned a conversation about hiring a hitman for $15,000, intending to murder T.H.'s wife, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
The legal proceedings have been a window into Nguyen’s relentless harassment, which played out over email impersonations and threats. In one instance, she menacingly wrote, "i wil [sic] kill every [expletive] one of you who has been delaying issuing my wife visa," after she unlawfully accessed T.H.'s email account. Another threat submitted through an online portal implied an imminent bombing at both the consulate in Vietnam and, potentially, one in San Francisco. The timeframe was around the lunar new year, a period traditionally filled with celebration, not terror.
The investigation, which landed Nguyen in her current predicament, was carried out by the FBI with help from the Diplomatic Security Service. It's brought to light a chilling pattern of cyber-stalking that escalated to real-world threats of violence, targeting individuals living in a state of heightened vigilance until her apprehension. "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," Nguyen wrote, impersonating T.H.’s wife, according to the same Justice Department release.
United States District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett has set the sentencing for June 18. Nguyen faces up to five years in federal prison for the stalking charge and could see an additional maximum of ten years for the threats, which would serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who contemplates crossing the line from digital harassment to threats of deadly force. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diane Roldán of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.
