Immigration 

A former candidate for Congress, Tan Nguyen, was sentenced yesterday by a federal judge a year in prison for obstruction of justice.  He had been convicted of lying to California investigators about his involvement in a letter sent to Latino voters during his 2006 campaign for U.S. House of Representatives.   In addition to the prison term, Judge Carter ordered Nguyen to serve six months at a halfway house.

 

A federal jury in December 2010 found Nguyen guilty of obstruction of justice for lying to the California Department of Justice, which was investigating numerous complaints from Latino voters in the 47th Congressional District in Orange County. The complaints came after approximately 14,000 voters in the district received a letter in Spanish that made claims about who was eligible to vote and what would happen to immigrant voters if they cast ballots. The mailer went out on letterhead that was similar to that of an anti-illegal immigration group, the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, which had nothing to do with the letter.

 

During an interview with investigators in October 2006, Nguyen falsely stated that campaign volunteers created the letter without his knowledge.

 

Source: U.S. Department of Justice