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Woman Who Mailed Ricin to Trump Pleads Guilty
Woman Who Mailed Ricin
to Trump Learns Her Fate
UPDATED
Aug 18, 2023 12:30 AM CDT

Woman Who Mailed Ricin to Trump Learns Her Fate

Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier made plea agreement

(Newser) - The French Canadian woman who mailed poisonous ricin to then-President Trump in 2020 was on Thursday sentenced in a Washington, DC, federal court to 22 years behind bars. Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, now 56, was arrested attempting to cross into the US from Canada with weapons in 2020, the Washington ...

He Bought 800 Castor Beans, Told the FBI It Was a Goof
He Bought 800 Castor Beans,
Told the FBI It Was a Goof
in case you missed it
Apr 9, 2022 2:20 PM CDT

He Bought 800 Castor Beans, Told the FBI It Was a Goof

Except it wasn't, and Ishtiaq Ali Saaem has been sentenced for obstructing justice

(Newser) - A 37-year-old man with a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke told law enforcement agents in Massachusetts that he had meant to buy one packet of castor beans in June 2015, not 100 packets. He also said he wanted the beans in order to do some decorative planting around his...

Poison Letter Suspect Enters Her Plea

Pascale Ferrier pleads not guilty to charge of threatening the president

(Newser) - The Canadian woman who allegedly mailed a toxic letter to the White House has been charged with threatening the US president, CTV News reports. Pascale Ferrier, 53, of Quebec appeared in a Buffalo, New York, courtroom Tuesday to plead not guilty. Ferrier, who is accused of sending envelopes containing the...

Poison Letter Suspect Arrested
Ricin Letter Suspect Arrested
Sep 21, 2020 12:01 AM CDT

Ricin Letter Suspect Arrested

Woman arrested at US border, suspected of sending letter to Trump

(Newser) - The woman suspected of sending a ricin-laced package to President Trump was arrested by US authorities at a New York border crossing, law enforcement sources tell the AP and CNN . The woman was allegedly trying to enter the US from Canada, and was carrying a gun. Prosecutors in Washington, DC,...

Ricin-Laced Package Is Addressed to Trump

One official says it may have come from Canada

(Newser) - Looks like a poison-filled package addressed to President Trump never made it as far as the White House mail room. Two law enforcement officials tell CNN it contained ricin, a toxic compound made from castor beans that can be fatal if inhaled or ingested. Little else is known, except it...

Pentagon's Ricin Scare Wasn't Caused by Actual Ricin

But envelopes did contain castor seeds

(Newser) - Tuesday's ricin scare turns out not to have actually been ricin. Officials announced Wednesday that the suspicious substance found in two envelopes sent to the Pentagon was actually castor seeds, from which ricin is made, but was not ricin itself. The envelopes, which were addressed to the chief of...

Mail Sent to Pentagon Tests Positive for Ricin

Meanwhile, 'white powdery substance' gets Ted Cruz campaign HQ placed on lockdown

(Newser) - Ricin has been detected in two pieces of mail that arrived at a Pentagon mail distribution center, defense officials announced Tuesday. The building is near, but not in, the Pentagon; the mail was addressed to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations. After the...

Police: Woman, 70, Tested Homemade Ricin on Neighbors

Betty Miller told an FBI agent that she wanted to 'injure herself'

(Newser) - A Vermont retirement community resident made ricin and tested the deadly toxin on her neighbors by putting it on their food or in beverages over a period of weeks, investigators said. Betty Miller told an FBI agent that she wanted to "injure herself" and was testing the poison's...

Texas Actress Gets 18 Years in Obama Ricin Threats

Shannon Richardson had tried to frame estranged husband

(Newser) - A Texas woman who had minor roles in The Walking Dead and the The Blind Side was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and Michael Bloomberg. A judge sentenced Shannon Guess Richardson , 36, in federal court in Texarkana on a federal charge...

FBI: Georgetown Student Made Ricin in Dorm Room

But they don't think it's a terror threat

(Newser) - A 19-year-old Georgetown student whipped up a lethal batch of ricin in his dorm room, authorities say, but it sounds like he did so more as a lark than as a terror threat. Daniel Harry Milzman faces federal charges of possessing a biological toxin after the stunt, reports CNN . Nobody...

Teen Sent Poisoned Card to Romantic Rival: Cops

Nicholas Helman arrested in Pennsylvania

(Newser) - A man sent a birthday card laced with the deadly poison ricin to a romantic rival in hopes of winning back his ex-girlfriend, authorities say. Nicholas Helman, 19, was arrested at his home in Hatboro, outside Philadelphia, Wednesday on an attempted murder charge and other counts. Helman told a Target...

Guy Signs for Neighbor's Package, Anti-Terror Cops Pounce

His family's home was ripped apart by biohazard teams

(Newser) - This might make people think twice about accepting packages for others: After a diplomat's son in London accepted a parcel addressed for a neighbor who wasn't home, he was arrested and chemical and biological teams spent days tearing his house and garden apart, the Telegraph reports. The package...

Actress May Get 18 Years Over Ricin Letters

Shannon Richardson pleads guilty to mailing toxin to Obama, Bloomberg

(Newser) - 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...

Ricin Suspect Busted for Jailhouse Ricin Plot

Obama letter suspect 'tried to frame fake Elvis'

(Newser) - A man charged with sending poison-laced letters to President Obama and other officials has been charged with trying for a second time to frame the man first arrested in the case—an Elvis impersonator. James Everett Dutschke has been jailed since April on charges of sending ricin-tainted letters to Obama,...

Alleged Ricin Sender Gives Birth in Custody

Shannon Richardson has premature baby

(Newser) - The Texas woman accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama and Michael Bloomberg has given birth prematurely to a baby boy while in custody. Attorneys for actress Shannon Guess Richardson and husband Nathan say she gave birth July 4 to a boy named Brody. Shannon Richardson's attorney says...

Feds Are Keeping an Eye on Your Snail Mail, Too

USPS has two main tools for law enforcement, says New York Times

(Newser) - Creeped out by all this talk of metadata and Big Brother and the fear that your emails aren't as private as you thought? Well, at least there's good old snail mail, right? Not so much, reports the New York Times . It looks at two programs the US Postal...

Actress Indicted in Ricin Letters Frame-up

Feds: Shannon Richardson sent letters to Obama, Bloomberg

(Newser) - A Texas actress was indicted today on charges that she sent ricin-laced letters to President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in an attempt to frame her estranged husband. Shannon Richardson, 35, is charged with two counts of mailing a threatening communication and one count of making a threat...

Cops Arrest Texas Actress Over Ricin Letters

She originally blamed her husband, authorities say

(Newser) - A woman who told FBI agents her husband had sent ricin-tainted letters to President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been arrested for allegedly sending the letters herself, law enforcement officials said today. It was not immediately clear what charges would be filed against Shannon Richardson of New...

Husband, Wife Pin Ricin Letters on Each Other

Investigators say wife had specific knowledge of letters

(Newser) - The ricin letters sent last week to President Obama and Michael Bloomberg have resulted in a unique round of he-said-she-said: As CBS News reports, a Texas woman told cops that her husband may have been behind the letters, but he in turn pointed the finger at her, saying that he...

Threatening Letters Contained Identical Lines

"What's in this letter is nothing compared to what I've got planned"

(Newser) - Officials are questioning a Texas Army veteran over ricin-laced letters sent to President Obama , Michael Bloomberg , and Bloomberg's gun-control organization, law enforcement sources tell NBC New York . The man, who works as a Pentagon contractor, isn't a suspect in the case at this point, they say. He does,...

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