Pasadena Woman Sentenced to More Than 5 Years in Federal Prison for Stalking Campaign and for Threats to Bomb U.S. Consulate in Vietnam

LOS ANGELES - A San Gabriel Valley woman was sentenced today to 64 months in federal prison for stalking a victim then impersonating him and his wife to further stalk government employees at a United States consulate in Vietnam, which she threatened to bomb.

Nathalie Nguyen, 40, of Pasadena, was sentenced by 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 and destroy buildings by fire and explosives. She has been in federal custody since February 2024.

Nguyen stalked a victim - identified in court documents as "T.H." - from April 2023 to February 2024, sending emails threatening to kill him and his wife. One of the emails contained screenshots of a text conversation about paying a hitman $15,000 to kill the victim's wife.

She also began stalking five employees at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At times, she impersonated T.H.'s wife, including in an August 2023 email in which she threatened to "bomb the [expletive] consular in Ho Chi Minh City."

In October 2023, Nguyen - impersonating T.H. and using T.H.'s email account without permission - sent an email to three government employees at the U.S. consulate stating, "i wil [sic] kill every [expletive] one of you who has been delaying issuing my wife visa."

In January 2024, Nguyen - impersonating T.H.'s wife - sent a message to U.S. officials through an online portal stating, "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, Nguyen impersonated T.H. and sent an inquiry to a U.S. Embassy online portal threatening to explode grenades around the time of the lunar new year at the consulate. Several minutes later, Nguyen, impersonating T.H., sent an email to the Vietnamese consulate stating, "i have a grenade set to be exploded this lunar new year at the consulate. my wife is ready."

"[Nguyen's] methods were technical and calculated," prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. "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 this matter with assistance from the Diplomatic Security Service.

Assistant United States Attorney Diane B. Roldán of the Major Crimes Section prosecuted this case.