Free Republic

Salt Lake City (AP) -- A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the cousin of a man who was apparently poisoned by the deadly toxin ricin. Thomas Tholen, 54, was indicted on a charge of misprision of felony. U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said Tholen knew ricin had been illegally produced but did not report it to authorities and lied to cover up his concealment. "The consequences of this action could have been disastrous," Tolman said. Tholen, of Riverton, is the cousin of Roger Bergendorff, who apparently was poisoned by ricin and suffered respiratory ailments. He regained consciousness March 12 after...

A federal grand jury has indicted a Riverton man accused of lying to federal investigators about ricin discovered in a Las Vegas motel room. Thomas Tholen, 54, was indicted Wednesday on a single charge of misprision of felony, accusing him of knowing that a crime had been committed — that ricin had been manufactured — but failing to report the crime to authorities. Federal prosecutors also accused Tholen of lying to investigators to cover up the crime. "He knew more than he stated and that what he did state was misrepresentative," U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman told reporters Wednesday....