SACRAMENTO (AP) — Authorities intercepted a letter bound for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that had been rigged to ignite when opened, one of 19 such letters sent to governors around the country since last week. Three of the letters found earlier caught fire, but no one has been injured.
The letter to Schwarzenegger was spotted Monday by screeners who routinely inspect letters intended for the governor and other members of the state's executive branch at a California Highway Patrol center in West Sacramento, CHP spokesman Tom Marshall said.
Schwarzenegger's office had no comment Tuesday.
Letters to other states postmarked from Las Vegas have featured a return address from Nevada's maximum-security Ely State Prison. Authorities said they were interviewing correctional officers and inmates at the prison and have narrowed their investigation to "a person of interest."
Marshall said authorities initially decided "because of the security issue" not to announce the interception. But the CHP confirmed the letter Tuesday after receiving numerous calls asking about bombs and terrorist materials allegedly intended for the governor.
Other governors targeted so far include those in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
In addition to the 13 Republican and six Democratic governors, Nevada's corrections director received a booby-trapped letter.
U.S. Postal officials said sending a letter intended to harm the recipient is a federal felony, with a possible prison sentence up to 20 years.
They've pretty well figured out that these letter bombs came from inmates at some prison that is evidently being run by the prisoners.