Posted on 11/01/2001 9:22:03 AM PST by Sunshine55
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. postal worker in Virginia was arrested and charged with sending an anthrax hoax letter and tampering with U.S. mail, authorities said on Thursday.
Sharon Watson, an employee at the Falmouth Post Office in Virginia, was charged in a criminal complaint with knowingly mailing threatening communications and with unlawful delay or destruction of mail. The violations can carry penalties of a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Four people, including two postal workers, have died from inhaling anthrax spores over the past month and a total of 16 people have been infected with the bacterial disease.
Traces of anthrax have been found in several post offices and mailrooms of government offices. Many postal workers are being treated for anthrax, particularly in the Washington area, where an anthrax-tainted letter to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle passed through the mail system,
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a statement that on Oct. 25 a postal employee at the Falmouth Post Office discovered a piece of bulk mail leaking a suspicious white powder.
As a precaution the U.S. Postal Inspection Service closed the branch down, causing a ``significant delay'' in mail delivery.
Authorities investigated and determined the letter had been tampered with at the post office and a white powder -- tested and found to be baby powder -- had been put into the envelope.
According to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent, three separate post office employees told authorities Watson was responsible.
``Watson expressed concerns that the post office was not providing medical testing for anthrax, because private physicians had indicated to employees that they were not equipped to test for anthrax,'' the affidavit said, citing the station manager.
The affidavit said Watson told FBI agents she had sprinkled baby powder on open mail because she did not feel the management of the post office was taking the anthrax threat seriously.
Top U.S. officials, including the director of the FBI, have said they would prosecute anthrax hoaxes to the fullest extent of the law.
Ten to one odds she is in a group which voted 91% for Algore.
She's obviously not the sharpest tack in the box.
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