SACRAMENTO AND WESTMINSTER — Federal prosecutors dropped charges Friday against Vang Pao, the exiled Hmong general accused two years ago of plotting with a band of aging Central Valley expatriates to overthrow the communist regime in their homeland of Laos.
Vang Pao, 79, had been singled out as the alleged ringleader of the bizarre scheme to launch a coup -- reputedly with mercenaries armed with AK-47 assault rifles and Stinger missiles -- in the summer of 2007.
Although prosecutors filed motions abandoning charges against the general, one of America's staunchest allies during the Vietnam War, they maintained the counts against a dozen of his alleged comrades and added new ones. U.S. Atty. Lawrence Brown of Sacramento offered no explanation for why the charges were dropped against Vang Pao but not the others, who face the possibility of life in prison. But he said federal prosecutors have discretion to consider a person's culpability and history as well as the consequences of a conviction.
At Vang Pao's Westminster home, the phone rang off the hook with calls from Hmong supporters.
"We've been getting so many calls we don't even have time to ask who they are," said Chi Vang, 24, the general's youngest son. "His supporters can't wait to see him to celebrate this momentous occasion."
Chi Vang said the news was a "huge sigh of relief" for the family. "We have been waiting for this moment for two years."
Vang Pao's arrest in June 2007 prompted outrage among Hmong who fled to the United States in the final days of the Vietnam War. With Vang Pao as their commander in chief, Hmong guerrillas trained by the CIA helped the United States battle the North Vietnamese for more than a dozen years before the war's end.
To many Hmong, the prosecution seemed yet another betrayal by America. Though more than 100,000 Hmong resettled in the United States, thousands remain trapped in refugee camps or highland jungles, still on the run from communist forces.
In Hmong enclaves from Fresno to St. Paul, Minn., the general's supporters expressed joy for a man many venerated.
At KBIF-AM (900), which markets itself to the sizable Hmong community in Fresno, dozens of callers were happy about the news, said Maya Xiong, Hmong news director of the small station. Some talked of performing traditional Hmong rituals to thank their ancestors for the dropped charges.
