ORLANDO, Fla. — A U.S. woman who was convicted in Vietnam of terrorism and deported after spending more than a year behind bars was welcomed home Sunday by a crowd of 50 supporters bearing American and Vietnamese flags.
Nguyen Thuong "Cuc" Foshee, 58, of Orlando, hugged supporters Saturday as she arrived at Orlando International Airport, only days after being convicted and deported from Vietnam.
"I feel like I'm walking on a cloud," she said, holding a flag that blended the American and Vietnamese flags together. "I think it will be a happy Thanksgiving."
Foshee was deported Monday after she and two other Vietnamese-Americans were given unusually light prison sentences ahead of President Bush's visit.
Foshee and six others, including four Vietnamese citizens, had been held since September 2005 without charges after being accused of plotting to take over radio airwaves in their native country to call for an uprising to overthrow the communist government.
They were convicted Nov. 17 and given unusually lenient sentences after the judge concluded they had repented and had no previous criminal records. The seven faced punishments ranging from 12 years in prison to death by firing squad. Foshee has denied the charges.
The Vietnamese government called the lenient sentences a "humanitarian gesture" and said they were unrelated to the presidential visit.
Foshee was released after she requested an early departure for medical reasons. She suffers from high blood pressure and heart problems. Her co-defendants, Le Van Binh, 31, of Tampa, and Huynh Bich Lien, 51, of San Gabriel, Calif., received similar prison terms and were expected to serve three more weeks before being deported.