Post date: Apr 18, 2013 1:24:21 PM
The FBI says it has arrested a Mississippi man in connection with ricin-tainted letters sent to U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama.
LEE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES (APRIL 17, 2013) (NBC) - The FBI said it arrested on Wednesday (April 17) Paul Kevin Curtis of Corinth, Mississippi, in connection with letters sent to U.S. officials, including U.S. President Barack Obama, tainted with the deadly poison ricin.
Curtis is "believed to be responsible for the mailings of the three letters sent through the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which contained a granular substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin," the FBI said.According to the FBI, the letters were addressed to the White House, Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and a Mississippi justice official.
Officials say 45-year old Curtis was arrested at his home and was being "cooperative".
At a news conference on Wednesday night, Mississippi's Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson said a suspect was under arrest for suspicion of sending a tainted letter that arrived at the office of a state Justice Court judge on the morning of April 10.
Johnson did not release the suspects' name or the name of the judge, saying he can only comment on the Mississippi state investigation and not any possible federal charges that may follow.
Johnson said federal agents contacted his office on Wednesday morning with information about a possible person of interest in the investigation of the letters sent to the Obama and Senator Wicker.
"They were much like us concerned that the letter that we received and the two letters that they had, there is a great possibility that was sent form the same individual or group of individuals," Johnson said.
He reiterated that his investigation is strictly related to the letter received in the stateJustice Court but added that preliminary lab tests suggest all three letters "are similar."
"I will tell you that there are consistencies and I will tell you that the FBI is assisting us every way possible to see if it is linked to theirs but they will have to speculate on where they are at on theirs. But as far as our letter is concerned there is a person of interest in custody that we are talking to," Johnson said.
Johnson said the suspect faces the possibility of several charges in state court, including aggravated assault against a public official and the possession or use of a weapon of mass destruction, citing "a new law that covers that".
According to the FBI, the envelope addressed to Obama was received at a mail screening facility outside the White House and was immediately quarantined.
The mailings to Obama and Wicker were related, based on the postmarks and the identical language of the enclosed letters, according to an FBI operations bulletin reviewed by Reuters.
The letters included the phrase, "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance," and were signed, "I am KC and I approve this message."
Both envelopes bore postmarks from Memphis, Tennessee and were dated April 8. Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton pointed out in a statement, however, that this does not mean the letters originated in that city.
An aide to Wharton explained that many areas near Memphis are also included in its postmark - including some in neighboring northern Mississippi, Wicker's state.
Johnson would not disclose where the suspect is being held, saying only that the individual is not at the Lee County facility.
The ricin poison scare hit Washington after bombings at the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured 176 on Monday, but the FBI said there was no indication the incidents were connected.