Actress May Get 18 Years Over Ricin Letters

A Texas woman and former actress pleaded guilty today to sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, under a deal that her attorney has said would cap prison time at 18 years. Shannon Guess Richardson entered her plea in federal court in Texarkana, Texas, to a federal charge of possessing and producing a biological toxin.

Richardson, who has had minor roles in The Walking Dead and The Blind Side, was arrested in June after authorities said she tried to implicate her ex-husband, Nathan Richardson, after he had filed for divorce. "Shannon is anxious to admit her role in ordering the components to make the ricin, her role in the letters that contained the ricin, and to tell the government who else was involved in those offenses," her attorney said. A federal judge ultimately will sentence Richardson at a later sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. (More Shannon Richardson stories.)