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| Shannon Richardson, right, is led from the emergency room at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System in Texarkana, Texas, Friday, June 7, 2013. Richardson made an initial appearance in a Texarkana courtroom after being charged with mailing a threatening communication to the president. She could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Davilyn Walston said. |
TEXARKANA, Texas
(AP) -- A pregnant Texas actress who told the FBI her husband had
sent ricin-tainted letters to President Barack Obama and New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, then allegedly said her husband made her mail
the letters, was charged Friday with threatening the president.
Shannon
Guess Richardson, 35, appeared in a Texarkana courtroom after being
charged with mailing a
threatening communication to the president. The
federal charge carries up to 10 years in prison, U.S. attorney's office
spokeswoman Davilyn Walston said.
Richardson, a
mother of five who has played bit roles in television shows, was
arrested earlier Friday for allegedly mailing the ricin-laced letters
last month to the White House, Bloomberg and the mayor's Washington
gun-control group. The letters threatened violence against gun-control
advocates, authorities said.
Her court-appointed attorney didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.
According
to an FBI affidavit, Richardson contacted authorities on May 30 to
implicate her husband. She later failed a polygraph test and
investigators also found inconsistencies in her story, the document
said.
Richardson then admitted mailing the letters knowing they
contained ricin, but said her husband had typed them and made her print
and send them.
No charges have been filed
against her husband, Nathaniel Richardson. His attorney said the couple
was going through a divorce and that the 33-year-old Army veteran may
have been set up by his wife.
FBI agents
wearing hazardous material suits were seen going in and out of the
Richardsons' house on Wednesday in nearby New Boston, about 150 miles
northeast of Dallas near the Arkansas and Oklahoma borders. Officials
have said the search was initiated after Richardson contacted the FBI
and implicated her husband.
John Delk, who
represents Nathaniel Richardson, told The Associated Press that his
client was pleased with his wife's arrest and was working with
authorities to prove his innocence. Delk said he wasn't anticipating
that Nathanial Richardson would be arrested. "But until I'm sure they're
not looking at him being involved, I can't say much more," he said.
Bloomberg
issued a statement Friday thanking local and federal law enforcement
agencies "for their outstanding work in apprehending a suspect," saying
they worked collaboratively from the outset "and will continue to do so
as the investigation continues."
Shannon
Richardson's resume on the Internet movie database IMDb said she has had
small television roles in "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Walking Dead."
She had a minor role in the movie "The Blind Side" and appeared in an
Avis commercial, according to the resume.
She
was seen leaving a Texarkana hospital on Friday shortly before the court
hearing, though it was unclear why she was there. A hospital
spokeswoman didn't return a phone message seeking comment.
Delk
said the Richardsons were expecting their first child in October.
Shannon Richardson also has five children ranging in age from 4 to 19
from other relationships, four of whom had been living with the couple
in
the New Boston home, the attorney said.
The
FBI is investigating at least three cases over the past two months in
which ricin was mailed to Obama and other public figures. Ricin has been
sent to officials sporadically over the years, but experts say that
there seems to be a recent uptick and that copycat attacks - made
possible by the relative ease of extracting the poison - may be the
reason.
If inhaled, ricin can cause
respiratory failure, among other symptoms. If swallowed, it can shut
down the liver and other organs, resulting in death. The amount of ricin
that can fit on the head of a pin is said to be enough to kill an adult
if properly prepared. No antidote is available, though researchers are
trying to develop one.
