Man who opened fire on SF mail carrier faces 11 year sentence after guilty plea
A man who unleashed a 13-round fusillade at a San Francisco mail carrier attempting to deliver a package to his house pleaded guilty to assault and firearms offenses today in federal court.
Vo Nguyen, 38, emptied the extended magazine of a Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol during the April 2023 incident – with the postal worker escaping unscathed only due to his attacker’s poor marksmanship.
The terms of a plea agreement would see Nguyen receive an 11 year sentence.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick ordered pre-sentence reports to be prepared and set sentencing for July 18 2024.
The mail carrier was delivering a package to a Visitacion Valley home and approached a woman standing outside – the defendant’s sister – in order to hand it over. At that point the defendant burst out of the house, loudly threatened the employee and squared-up to attack him. The USPS man fended off his opponent with pepper spray before making his escape along a nearby street.
Nguyen went back into his house, came back out carrying an object, and got in to a Toyota Land Cruiser, setting out to pursue the fleeing mail carrier. He opened fire on the man “seven to eight” times, missing on each occasion, at which point the quick-thinking carrier fled in the opposite direction to which the vehicle was driving.
Undeterred, the defendant haphazardly shot “approximately five more” times, again failing to hit his target. He then made a U turn and drove back towards an SUV behind which the mail carrier had taken cover. Firing and missing three more times, Nguyen realized he was out of ammunition and drove away briefly before returning and attempting to fight the mail carrier with his fists. The USPS employee kept his presence of mind and again pepper sprayed his assailant at which point SFPD officers arrived.
Nguyen was promptly arrested. The gun was on the passenger seat of the Land Cruiser and shell casings littered the car. The Sig Sauer 9mm weapon was stolen in 2011.
Nguyen has been in federal custody since the incident after prosecutors successfully argued that he was a flight risk owing to a history of bench warrant being issued because of his failure to appear in previous court cases, and that he had ties to a foreign country as a citizen of Vietnam. They also argued he was a danger to public safety.
Appearing today in Courtroom 2 of San Francisco Federal Courthouse, Nguyen pleaded guilty to ‘assault on a federal employee with a deadly or dangerous weapon’, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, and to ‘using, carrying and discharging a firearm in connection with a crime of violence’, which carries a minimum penalty of 10 years and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
However the terms of a plea agreement envisage a sentence of 11 years. A previously charged count of attempted murder would be dropped.
Judge Orrick warned Nguyen that his plea agreement was subject to his final approval at a sentencing hearing set for July 18 2024.
“This kind of plea is a ‘C’ plea,” he told Nguyen, “which means that, if I choose not to follow the terms of the agreement, I’ll give you an opportunity to withdraw your plea – and if you choose not to do so I could impose a more severe sentence without being bound by the plea agreement.”
During today’s hearing it emerged that the postal worker did not know the defendant and did not believe he had met him previously.
Nguyen, who is not a U.S. Citizen, was warned that he faces deportation after serving any sentence.
The case continues.
