Tan D. Nguyen

Nguyen's campaign was linked to a Spanish-language mailing of 14,000 letters allegedly warning immigrants not to vote, threatening them with prison or deportation. The letter was received by registered Hispanic voters the weekend of October 15, 2006 and sent to then-California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who launched an investigation into the source of the letter on Monday, October 17, 2006.[6][7] As translated in the press at the time, it read in part:[8]

You are being sent this letter because you were recently registered to vote. If you are a citizen of the United States, we ask that you participate in the democratic process of voting. You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in imprisonment, and you will be deported for voting without having the right to do so.[9]

The letter was issued on the letterhead of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform; however, its chairwoman denied any involvement.[10] Nguyen denied any personal involvement in the incident, and stated that an employee in his office who might have been responsible had since been fired.[11] In the meantime, a national coalition of ethnic bar associations formed, led by the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and spearheaded by its former President and General Counsel, John Trasvina. The coalition drafted and signed a joint letter calling for an investigation into the letter. On Friday, October 20, California Department of Justice agents raided Nguyen's campaign headquarters in Garden Grove and his home in Santa Ana.[12]

On May 16, 2007, the California Department of Justice investigation determined there was no evidence that Nguyen's campaign had an intent to intimidate those legally entitled to vote. The investigation had found that the original draft of the letter (in English) had warned illegals and those with green cards against voting, but elsewhere had encouraged those with U.S. citizenship to vote. The phrase "those with green cards" had then been translated into "emigrado" for the Spanish-language letter that was mailed; this had later been translated back into English as "immigrant" when the letter was brought to light in the media. Senior Assistant Attorney General Gary Schons stated the investigation found that Nguyen did, in fact, know about the letter before it was mailed, in contradiction to Nguyen's repeated assertions that he was not aware of it. Nguyen, who continued to deny involvement with the letter, in other respects, stated satisfaction with the investigation results and considered himself exonerated.[13]

Despite the California Attorney General declining to press charges against Nguyen, a federal grand jury indicted him on a charge of obstruction of justice brought against him by the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department.[14] There were two jury trials which were presided over by United States District Court Judge David O. Carter.[1][15] Nguyen was found guilty by a jury and was sentenced in February 2011 by Carter to one year in prison and six months in a halfway house.[16]

Nguyen's conviction was upheld on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[17]