federal dropped against hmong leader vang pao

Last week federal prosecutors dropped charges against Vang Pao, the exiled Hmong general accused two years ago of plotting with a band expatriates to overthrow the communist regime in their homeland of Laos: Federal charges dropped against Hmong leader Vang Pao.

Vang 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. But on Friday, prosecutors filed motions abandoning charges against the general.

However, 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.

The general is respected and revered as a leading influential figure among the many Hmong refugees who resettled in the United States after the Vietnam War. News of the dropped charges reverberated throughout the Hmong American community. More here: Charges dropped against Laotian hero in Calif. And here: Gen. Vang Pao's Release Momentous for Young Hmong Americans.