San Francisco man gets federal prison for shooting at postal worker multiple times

SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco man has been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison after being convicted of shooting at a U.S. Postal Service worker delivering mail over a dozen times.

United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey's office announced Friday that 38-year-old Vo Nguyen received an 11-year sentence. Nguyen pleaded guilty on May 2 in connection with the shooting incident, which took place on April 1, 2023.

According to prosecutors, the victim was delivering mail to Nguyen's home when he came out of his house and started yelling at the employee. Nguyen then acted like he wanted to fight, prompting the victim to run.

The victim fled a couple houses away. Nguyen followed and the victim pepper sprayed him.

Prosecutors said Nguyen went home to grab a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, got into his vehicle and began searching for the victim. After finding the employee, Nguyen admitted to firing five to six shots at him, pausing, then firing five more shots as he ran away.

Nguyen found the victim again, crouching behind a parked SUV. He then fired three more shots at the victim before driving away.

A short time later, Nguyen returned to confront the USPS employee a third time, chasing him on foot until the employee pepper sprayed him again, prosecutors said.

Nguyen was arrested following the attack. He pleaded guilty to assault upon a federal employee with a deadly or dangerous weapon, along with discharging a firearm in connection with a crime of violence.

Along with the prison sentence, Nguyen was also ordered to a three-year period of supervision after his release. A hearing to determine restitution has been scheduled for Oct. 10.