In an indictment sure to jolt Minnesota's large Hmong population, federal authorities in California charged Gen. Vang Pao and eight others Monday with plotting to overthrow the Communist government in their former homeland of Laos.

"We are looking at conspiracy to murder thousands and thousands of people at one time," Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Twiss said in court.

Vang Pao led Hmong soldiers who fought alongside the CIA and U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, paving the way for thousands of Hmong to end up in Minnesota. Once revered, Vang Pao has had his popularity and credibility decline in recent years. Two years ago, the Minnesota attorney general's office forced the Vang Pao Foundation to close and pay restitution after violating state nonprofit laws.

Vang Pao splits his time between homes in Minnesota and Orange County, Calif.

He was scheduled to be in St. Paul for next month's Hmong soccer tournament. He is now in custody after being arrested at his home in Westminster, Calif., on Monday morning.

"Some people have positive feelings about the general, some don't like him ... but this will come as a shock," said Ilean Her, director of the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans.

"I have to see some evidence," she said. "He's at the trail end of his popularity and I would say these charges would have had more credibility 10 years ago when he had much more influence, at least here in Minnesota."

Xang Vang -- who drives the general when he comes to Minnesota, including a trip for a veterans' celebration earlier this year -- said that despite the recent controversies with his foundation, Vang Pao remains highly respected in the local Hmong community.

"He's like George Washington to the American citizens," said Vang, who runs the Hmong American Mutual Assistance Association. "Without him, the Hmong would all be dead in Laos."

Vang Pao has long been unwavering in his promise to Hmong refugees that he would help them overthrow the Communist government of Laos so that they could one day return to their homeland.

He has reportedly raised millions of dollars in the past 25 years, often from impoverished Hmong families who make monthly contributions to a secretive organization called Neo Hom.

Her said the indictment will likely spark fear in the local Hmong community, which is considered the largest urban concentration of Hmong in the country. "Resistance fighting can now be labeled as terrorism by U.S. authorities," Her said. "The local community will want to see the evidence."

Six-month investigation

The nine men indicted, including Harrison Ulrich Jack, a 1968 graduate of West Point, allegedly conspired to obtain hundreds of AK-47s, Stinger missiles, anti-tank missiles, mines, rockets and C-4 explosive, as well as smoke grenades, to overthrow the Laotian government.

All the suspects are in custody and appeared before a federal magistrate judge in U.S. District Court in Placerville, Calif., on Monday afternoon to hear the charges read against them.

The charges stem from a six-month undercover investigation, dubbed "Operation Tarnished Eagle," that included a series of meetings with undercover federal agents during which the plotters allegedly discussed moving weapons into safe houses in Thailand and Laos.

Vang Pao is accused with the eight others of violating the U.S. neutrality act by plotting on American soil to invade a foreign country.

Jack, a former U.S. infantry officer who retired in 1977 as a lieutenant colonel in the California National Guard, allegedly approached defense contractors seeking munitions for the plot, according to a criminal complaint.