Traces of ricin? Aren't several of the plants in the same family popular indoor plants?
Courtesy of :
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ plmar99.htm
The castor bean or castor plant belongs to the Euphorbia Family (Euphorbiaceae), a diverse and economically-important family of flowering plants. Although the castor plant has a watery sap, many members of the family contain a poisonous milky sap or latex that exudes copiously from cut stems or leaves. In fact, the most important world source of natural rubber comes from several members of the Euphorbia Family, especially the para rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). Other economically important plants include tapioca from the large storage roots of the tapioca plant (Manihot esculenta), and tung oil from the seeds of the Chinese tung tree (Aleurites fordii). Tung oil is one of the world's finest and most durable finishes for wood. Another species of Aleurites (A. molucanna), is called the candlenut tree because the oil-rich seeds were used for candles in Hawaii and other Polynesian islands.
The seed of candlenut (Aleurites molucanna) contains about 50 percent oil and burns like a candle. The ancient Polynesians brought this tree to the Hawaiian Islands where it has become naturalized. The dried nuts were cracked open and the seeds were skewered onto the midrib of a coconut frond (or slender bamboo stem) and set on fire. [Since they contain about 50 percent unsaturated oil, the seeds ignite readily.] The Polynesians used them for candles that burned for about 45 minutes. Hawaiians also extracted the oil for many other uses: to shine and waterproof wooden bowls, to mix with charcoal to make black canoe paint, to burn as torches, and to burn in stone lamps for light.
The candlenut is also known as the kukui-nut in Hawaii, and the large seeds are polished and strung into beautiful necklaces and bracelets. In fact, this tree has so many uses that it is the national tree of Hawaii. Throughout the islands the light green (silvery-gray) foliage decorates lush canyons and valleys. The light-colored foliage is easy to spot from the numerous vistas on these lovely islands.
The fruit and seeds of candlenut (Aleurites molucanna). In the Hawaiian Islands, the large seeds are polished and made into beautiful kukui-nut necklaces and bracelets. The shiny black or dark brown seeds resemble polished gemstones.
There are many native members of the Euphorbia Family represented in the southwestern desert region of the United States and Mexico, including a shrub that produces the famous Mexican jumping bean (Sebastiana pavoniana) and the Arizona jumping bean (Sapium biloculare). Like the castor bean, the Mexican jumping bean also has capsules composed of 3 carpels, except some of these are occupied by a robust moth larva rather than a seed. A related roadside plant of southern Arizona and Mexico (Cnidoscolus angustidens) superficially resembles a young castor plant, except it is covered with very painful, stinging hairs (trichomes). Its appropriate name of male mujer or "bad woman" is quickly realized if one makes the mistake of touching it.
For us in the North, castor plants are houseplants, but it does grow wild in the south.
I did check on Thomas Leahy, Janesville WI. He was convicted of a number of state charges in 1998 & he's doing five years in the Wisco prison system. The notes from the case said he was in federal custody, but I don't know if he was charged and convicted of any federal laws. I don't have a PACER account.