Three Vietnamese-born US citizens were sentenced today to 15 months imprisonment and ordered deported on charges of plotting violence against the Communist-run Vietnam government.
The sentences of the three, who have been detained since September last year, included the 14 months already served, so they would expect to be deported to the United States in December.
Judge Vu Phi Long in Ho Chi Minh City People's Court issued the 15-month sentence and ordered them to be expelled within 10 days of finishing their prison terms.
The one-day trial included a Florida resident, Nguyen Thuong Cuc (58), who goes by the name of Thuong Nguyen Foshee in her Orlando, Florida home. She has close ties with President Bush's Republican Party, and her detention has drawn criticism from her supporters in the United States before Mr Bush visits Vietnam next week for an Asia-Pacific summit.
Four other defendants received the same sentence and were ordered to be put under house arrest for three years when they complete their sentences.
The seven defendants were charged last week with "terrorist activities". These included bomb plots, delivering leaflets and jamming radio stations, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors linked the seven to a Vietnamese-born US resident, Nguyen Huu Chanh, who has been suspected in recent years of plotting to bomb Vietnamese embassies. He is detained in South Korea while Hanoi pursues his extradition.
Mr Chanh is a member of a US-based group called "Government of Free Vietnam".
In court today, Ms Foshee said, "I very much regret my participation in Nguyen Huu Chanh's organisation. I had lived outside of my country for nearly 40 years so I didn't understand my country and the laws in Vietnam". All other defendants expressed similar regrets.