Two in U.S. charged with plotting Laos coup

The committee acted through the Lao liberation movement known as Neo Hom, led in the U.S. by Vang Pao. It conducted extensive fundraising, directed surveillance operations and organized a force of insurgent troops within Laos, according to the complaint.

As recently as May, people acting on behalf of the committee were gathering intelligence about military installations and government buildings in the Laotian capital of Vientiane, according to prosecutors.

Since January, the Hmong leaders and Jack inspected shipments of military equipment that were to be purchased and shipped to Thailand, shipments that were scheduled for June 12 and June 19, the complaint alleged. That equipment included machine guns, ammunition, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, anti-tank rockets, stinger missiles, mines and C-4 explosives.

During a news conference after the defendants' court appearance, prosecutors displayed photographs of the weapons involved in the alleged plot. They showed a light anti-tank rocket system, a Stinger missile, Claymore mines and an AK-47 assault rifle.

The defendants also attempted to recruit a mercenary force that included former members of the Army special forces or Navy SEALs.

Jack worked full-time doing strategic planning for the California National Guard after retiring from active duty as a lieutenant colonel about 10 years ago.

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He recently established the Hmong Emergency Relief Organization, a nonprofit committed to supporting the Hmong community. He also is president of the nonprofit Youth Development Academies of America.

In March, Jack was hired by Yolo County, near Sacramento, as an ombudsman to help employees who have concerns or problems with county officials. He earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from West Point in 1968.

Vang Pao has been a source of controversy elsewhere.

In April, a dispute erupted in Madison, Wis., over a proposal to name a new elementary school after him, a move intended to honor the area's large Hmong population. Dissenters said a school should not bear the name of a figure with such a violent history.

In 2002, the city of Madison dropped a plan to name a park in his honor after a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor cited numerous published sources alleging that Vang Pao had ordered executions of his own followers, of enemy prisoners of war and of his political enemies.

Spokesmen for Vang Pao and his followers denied the charges at the time.

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