Judge approves bail in overthrow plot

SACRAMENTO, July 13 (UPI) -- A federal magistrate in California has released an elderly Laotian man accused of plotting to overthrow the communist government of Laos.

Gen. Vang Pao, 77, who fought alongside U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, is one of 11 people charged in the alleged plot, The Los Angeles Times reports.

U.S. Magistrate Dale Drozd decided Thursday the wheelchair-bound Vang Pao is not a flight risk and approved his release from house arrest on $1.5 million bail.

Drozd also ordered the release of several other defendants including a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel accused of approaching an undercover agent to buy arms and stinger missiles on behalf of the group.

Defense attorney John Keker has portrayed the group as planning a hapless military operation which was meant to help the Hmong in Laos avoid persecution by the country's communist government.