Federal jury convicts Calif. man for mailing anthrax hoax letters
By APThursday, September 17, 2009
Calif. man convicted in nationwide anthrax scare
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal jury has convicted a 66-year-old Sacramento man for mailing more than 100 anthrax hoax letters last year.
Marc Keyser was convicted Thursday on three counts of sending the letters and two counts of mailing threatening communications.
He was arrested in October 2008 after several newspapers, other media outlets, businesses and the Modesto district office of U.S. Rep. George Radanovich, a California Republican, received threatening packages in the mail.
Prosecutors say the packages contained a computer disk labeled “Anthrax Shock and Awe Terror” and a small packet of sugar relabeled with a biohazard symbol and the words “Anthrax sample.”
Keyser is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 30. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
