San Francisco Sun

SAN FRANCISCO – Vo Nguyen was sentenced to 132 months in prison for assaulting a federal employee with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during the assault, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and United States Postal Inspection Service, San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Stephen Sherwood. The sentence was delivered by United States District Judge William H. Orrick.

Nguyen, 38, a resident of San Francisco, pleaded guilty on May 2, 2024. According to his plea agreement, a United States Postal Service (USPS) employee was delivering mail to Nguyen’s residence on April 1, 2023. Nguyen confronted the USPS employee aggressively and acted as if he wanted to fight. The USPS employee retreated and ran away but was followed by Nguyen. After being pepper-sprayed by the USPS employee, Nguyen returned home to retrieve a 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol and pursued the USPS employee in his car.

Nguyen admitted that he fired approximately five to six shots at the USPS employee before pausing briefly and firing five more shots as the USPS employee fled. Nguyen then made a U-turn and drove towards the USPS employee again, stopping in front of an SUV where the USPS employee had taken cover. He fired three more shots before driving away briefly and returning on foot until he was pepper-sprayed again by the USPS employee.

A federal grand jury indicted Nguyen on May 2, 2023. He faced charges including assault upon a federal employee with a deadly or dangerous weapon under 18 U.S.C. § 111(a) and (b), and discharging a firearm in connection with a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). He pleaded guilty to both charges.

Nguyen has been in custody since his arrest on April 1, 2023.

In addition to his prison term, U.S. District Judge Orrick sentenced him to three years of supervised release following his imprisonment and scheduled an October 10, 2024 hearing to determine restitution amounts.

Kelsey Davidson is prosecuting the case with assistance from Veronica Hernandez, Marina Ponomarchuk, and Victim Specialist Janice Pagsanjan. The investigation involved cooperation between the United States Postal Inspection Service and the San Francisco Police Department.