Posted on 01/29/2011 1:49:59 AM PST by Las Vegas Dave
AKRON, Ohio -- Federal agents on Friday arrested a Coventry Township man on one count of unlawful possession of a biological agent -- the deadly toxin ricin.
Jeffrey B. Levenderis, 54, appeared in U.S. District Court in Akron late Friday, but did not enter a plea, a federal spokesman said. Levenderis is the former owner of the home on South Main St. in Coventry where officials had seized a small amount of material late Tuesday afternoon.
Levenderis, whose elderly father said he been troubled for years, is scheduled to appear again in court next week in Akron.
Ricin, a deadly poison, is made from castor beans and is a biological toxin of choice for some terrorist groups, according to the National Counterterrorism Center.
The Centers for Disease Control has an online q&a about Ricin: Ricin, a poison found naturally in castor beans. If the beans are chewed and swallowed, the released ricin can cause injury. Ricin can be made from the waste material left over from processing the beans. It can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or weak acid.
Township and Summit County officials assured the public that there was no widespread health concern and minimized any possible connection with terrorism. They continued searching Levenderis' former home late Friday.
"We never really felt that there was any concern beyond the house and we never considered evacuating the neighborhood," said Coventry Township Fire Chief David Calderone. "We found a few baggies of material in a closed coffee can in the refrigerator, but they remained contained the entire time and we sent them to the lab to be tested."
The substance was flown to a federal lab in Maryland for analysis. Investigators confirmed Friday afternoon that the material taken was ricin -- a toxin that is "derived from the castor bean and can be deadly if ingested, inhaled or injected."
The new owner of the home, which had recently been foreclosed on, initially found the substance. The new owner notified local township and Summit County authorities, who contacted the FBI.
Federal agents called in specially trained FBI hazardous materials teams from Pittsburgh and Quantico, Va., FBI spokesman Scott Wilson said.
Wilson said he could not say whether he suspected Levenderis of actually making the ricin, whether he had more and whether he had taken it elsewhere. He also would not say where Levenderis was when arrested by federal agents.
"The investigation led us to him, but I can't go into any statements he made," Wilson said. "I can say that we don't believe there is any connection to terrorism at this point."
Levenderis' father said his son was still secretly staying at the home up until the point when the new owners showed up.
"My son was very troubled for a long, long time and when the FBI men came here to talk to me (Thursday), I wasn't surprised," said Anthony Levenderis, 82. He and his late wife Mary had adopted Jeffrey Levenderis when he was 6 years old.
"But I believe he was more of a danger to himself than to other people," Anthony Levenderis said. "His marriage broke up, he quit his job and he lost his house, so maybe this will be the best thing to happen to him. He needs a lot of help."
Jeffrey Levenderis has no criminal record. He divorced in 1990 and just recently lost the home, a $165,000 two-story, brick colonial across from Firestone Metro Park, part of the Summit County park system.
Anthony Levenderis, a retired teacher from the Akron City School District, said he had no idea why his son might have had the ricin or how long he might have had it.
"The FBI men asked the same question, but I don't know what he was planning to do with it," he said. "But all of this is reviving a lot of ugly moments from the past for me."
Isn’t that where castor oil comes from?
When Ricin is outlawed, only outlaws will have Ricin.
You are probably right. He was despondent from not getting his free pony that poops skittles.
1978 had several surprises in the area of assassination.
“Plus, sometimes the simplest answer is the right one. Aka: ‘Occam’s razor’.”
Maybe, but it’s weird to sit there and make your own poison, when you can end your life ‘peacefully’ with a bottle of tylenol and some booze. Maybe he was trying to kill someone that had ‘wrong him’ in the past? It’s not unknown to blame someone even from 20 years ago, when your chips are truly down.
We’re all speculating of course.
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