Grand Jury Indicts Two Men for Mailing Hoax Anthrax Letters

Birmingham.FBI.gov - DOJ Press Release ^ | April 28, 2010 | n/a

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

Grand Jury Indicts Two Men for Mailing Hoax Anthrax Letters

BIRMINGHAM—A federal grand jury today indicted two men in connection with a series of hoax anthrax letters that were mailed in Alabama this month and in March, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, U.S. Postal Inspector Frank Dyer and Federal Protective Service Threat Management Branch Chief Curtis Huston announced.

The first 15 counts of the 24-count indictment charge CLIFTON LAMAR “CLIFF” DODD, 38, of Lincoln, with mailing 15 hoax letters between March 6 and April 5 that contained a threat in the form of white powder that reasonably could have been perceived as the biological toxin, anthrax.

One of those letters was delivered to U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby’s office in the Robert S. Vance Federal Building in Birmingham on March 8. Other recipients of the white-powder letters DODD is charged with sending include Alabama Sen. Jim Preuitt of Talladega, two Talladega County state court judges, Talladega County Sheriff Jerry Studdard, several Talladega County Jail inmates who were in the jail at the same time as DODD, and police investigators from both the Lincoln and Oxford police departments who previously had interviewed DODD, according to the indictment and an arrest affidavit filed Monday in U.S. District Court.

Counts 16-23 of the indictment charge DODD and MILSTEAD EARL “MICKEY” DARDEN, 38, of Lincoln, with mailing eight other anthrax hoax letters on Saturday, April 24. Count 24 of the indictment charges the two men with conspiring to send the threatening hoax letters mailed April 24.

As part of the conspiracy, the indictment charges that DARDEN allowed DODD to put together those eight letters while sitting in DARDEN’s car, and that DARDEN drove DODD to the Pell City Post Office to mail them.

Postal inspectors arrested DODD and DARDEN on April 24 after they deposited eight letters in an outdoor drop box at the Pell City Post Office and the letters were found to contain white powder, according to the arrest affidavit.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service, the FBI, the Federal Protective Service and the Talladega County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Whisonant.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

[Dem Guard]

"Postal inspectors arrested DODD and DARDEN on April 24 after they deposited eight letters in an outdoor drop box at the Pell City Post Office and the letters were found to contain white powder, according to the arrest affidavit."

Heck, it was probably the only car that pulled up to the mail box in a week with any mail to send out! lol

[Cindy]

UPDATE:

June 29, 2010

NOTE The following text is a quote:

http://birmingham.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/bh062910.htm

Montevallo Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Mail Hoax Letters

BIRMINGHAM—A 38-year-old Montevallo man pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon to conspiracy to mail hoax anthrax letters in April, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector in Charge Martin Phanco announced.

MILSTEAD EARL “MICKEY” DARDEN admitted he conspired with Clifton Lamar “Cliff” Dodd, 38, of Lincoln, to mail eight threatening hoax letters on April 24. U.S. Postal Inspectors arrested the two men shortly after they deposited the eight letters in a Pell City Post Office drop box. The letters contained white powder, which was tested and found not be anthrax.

“These type letters are a threat, not a joke,” Vance said. “When people open or handle letters containing white powder, they fear for their health and must endure medical precautions against poisonous contaminants. The emergency response and required testing on every potentially harmful letter is costly,” she said. “These cases will be prosecuted.”

“Tampering with U.S. mail is a serious offense and sending hoax letters to scare postal customers is something that cannot be tolerated,” Phanco said. “Because of the disruption to mail service that such letters cause, the penalties can be just as severe as if they had sent something hazardous.”

DARDEN acknowledged in his plea agreement that he allowed Dodd to prepare and address letters containing white powder while sitting in DARDEN’s truck in the parking lot of a Pell City store on April 24. DARDEN then drove Dodd to the Pell City Post Office, where Dodd placed the letters in a drop box, according to the plea agreement.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy to mail hoax anthrax letters is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled Oct. 4 at 9:30 a.m.

A federal grand jury indicted DARDEN and Dodd in connection with a series of hoax letters mailed in Alabama in March and April that contained a white powder that could have been perceived as the biological toxin, anthrax. The indictment charged both men with the conspiracy and with mailing the eight letters on April 24. Those letters were intercepted by U.S. Postal Inspectors before they could be delivered. The indictment charged Dodd with mailing an additional 15 hoax letters between March 6 and April 5. Dodd’s case remains pending, a trial date has not been set.

This case was investigated by the U.S Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, the Federal Protective Service and the Talladega County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Whisonant.