A Canadian woman accused of mailing the deadly poison ricin to Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of making interstate threats and violating prohibitions on biological weapons.
On Monday (local time) a US grand jury in Texas handed up 16 counts against 53-year-old Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier.
Ferrier allegedly mailed a letter containing ricin to the White House addressed to US President Trump. The FBI says the letter had her fingerprints on it.
"I found a new name for you: 'The Ugly Tyrant Clown'," she wrote in the letter, according to FBI charging documents.
"I hope you like it. You ruin USA and lead them to disaster. I have US cousins, then I don't want the next 4 years with you as president. Give up and remove your application for this election."
Referring to the ricin, she allegedly added: "If it doesn't work, I'll find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when I'll be able to come."
Letters tainted with the lethal substance were also sent to federal agencies in Texas.
Ricin is found naturally in castor beans, but it takes a deliberate act to convert it into a biological weapon. The poison can cause death within 36 to 72 hours from exposure to an amount as small as a pinhead. No known antidote exists.
Ferrier was taken into custody in September while trying to enter the US from Canada.
If convicted, she faces a sentence of up to life in prison for the biological weapons charges.
The charge of making threats via interstate commerce carries a potential five-year sentence.
Both convictions also carry a maximum possible fine of US$250,000.
There have been numerous incidents involving ricin being mailed to US officials.
In 2018, Navy veteran William Clyde Allen was indicted for mailing letters "containing castor bean material" to Trump and other federal officials, including FBI director Christopher Wray. He remains in custody.
Two people were convicted in separate incidents of sending ricin-tainted letters to former President Barack Obama.
In May 2014, Mississippi man James Everett Dutschke was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to sending letters containing the deadly substance to Obama, as well as a senator and a state judge. In July 2014, Texas actor Shannon Richardson was sentenced to 18 years in prison for mailing letters containing ricin to Obama and former New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
Reuters / Newshub.
