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Mississippi Man Arrested For Allegedly Sending Letters Containing Ricin

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UPDATE 12:36 p.m. The Mississippi man accused of mailing letters with suspected ricin has been charged with threatening President Barack Obama and others.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release Thursday that Paul Kevin Curtis,45, faced two federal charges accusing him of threatening the president and others.

Curtis was to appear in federal court Thursday. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

An affidavit says the letters sent to Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and a judge in Mississippi told the recipients: "Maybe I have your attention now even if that means someone must die."


The FBI has identified a Mississippi man suspected of mailing letters containing poisonous ricin as 45-year-old Paul Kevin Curtis.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel McMullen said Curtis was arrested Wednesday afternoon at his apartment in Corinth, near the Tennessee state line about 100 miles east of Memphis.

Authorities still waited for definitive tests on the letters sent to President Barack Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

An FBI intelligence bulletin obtained by The Associated Press said those two letters were postmarked Memphis, Tenn.