MADISON, Wis. -- The Madison Metropolitan School District's Board of Education is preparing to review the name for its new elementary school at a school board meeting later this month.

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Board President Arlene Silveira said that the board will consider changing the name and what process they would use if they choose to do so. The meeting will start at 5 p.m. on June 18, WISC-TV reported.

The issue is getting an additional airing because the man in whose honor the new school would be named, Vang Pao, is now in custody after a raid near Fresno, Calif. Pao is a former general and icon to some in the Hmong community. He is accused of trying to overthrow the government of the southeastern Asian country of Laos, WISC-TV reported.

"There was no evidence to support the (previously alleged) claims (against Pao) -- it's why we basically said, 'We'll stay with the name.' Now with this new information, certainly it changes things and we have to move it to discussion," Silveira said.

Silveira said that she don't believe specific names will be discussed at the June 18 meeting. She said she hopes the community will again get involved in the naming process, if and when it gets to that point.

Federal prosecutors said that Pao and a former lieutenant colonel with the California National Guard were raising money to recruit a small army, as well as stockpiling weapons, including anti-tank missiles and grenade launchers.

The criminal complaint said Pao, 77, and the other Hmong defendants formed a committee "to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a military expedition or enterprise to engage in the overthrow of the existing government of Laos by violent means, including murder, assaults on both military and civilian officials of Laos and destruction of buildings and property."

News of Pao's arrest reignited the controversy about the name for the school, to be located north of Hawk's Landing in the Linden Park neighborhood on the city's West Side. The board approved the name because Pao is seen as comparable figure to Martin Luther King Jr. for some in the Hmong community.

However, some parents and neighborhood residents sought to reverse the board's decision about the school's name last month. They said that they opposed the name because they're concerned about Pao being perceived as a role model for young people because of his alleged links to drug trafficking and war crimes.

Some opponents said that this latest incident is part of the reason why they disagreed with the board's decision, WISC-TV reported.

University of Wisconsin history professor Alfred McCoy said that research shows Pao committed war crimes and was involved in drug trafficking during the Vietnam war. He warned district officials against the proposed name.

"If you persist in naming the school after Vang Pao, you'll be subjecting this community and this city to serious embarrassment," he said. "That was May 7. It wasn't even a month later that this happened."

McCoy previously wrote a book alleging Vang Pao's wrongdoings.

Some local Hmong leaders said that they're open to discussion with parents in the Linden Park neighborhood. Dr. Koua Vang said that he and others will discuss what they'd like to happen following Pao's arrest.

Court Papers Name Ex-State Senator In Alleged Plot

The attorney for former state Sen. Gary George said that his client's interest in overthrowing the Laotian government is preposterous.

George's attorney, Alex Flynn of Milwaukee, said that evidence in a California indictment doesn't implicate his client. George hasn't been arrested or charged.

George "has as much interest in seeing the government of Laos overthrown as he does in the Klingons taking over the Starship Enterprise," Flynn said.

The 53-year-old George recently completed a four-year federal prison sentence for accepting kickbacks from a Milwaukee social service agency.

A sworn affidavit from an undercover agent in the California-based plot states that "probable cause exists to believe" that George was among those involved in the conspiracy.

However, Lo Cha Thao once worked as an aide to the senator and the 34-year-old was one of 10 people charged in federal court in Sacramento.