James Everett Dutschke stands in the street near his home in Tupelo, Miss., and waits for the FBI to arrive and search his home in connection with the sending of poisoned letters to President Barack Obama and others on April 23, 2013.(Thomas Wells, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journa/AP Photo)
FBI spokeswoman Deborah Madden confirmed to ABC News that James Everett Dutschke, 41, of Tupelo, Miss., was arrested, without incident, at his home early Saturday morning in connection with the poisonous letters.
Dutschke was charged with knowingly developing, producing, stockpiling, transferring, acquiring, retaining and possessing a biological agent, toxin and delivery system, for use as a weapon and with attempting, threatening and conspiring to do the same, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
If convicted, Dutschke could face life in prison, a $250,000 fine, and five years of supervised release, the news release stated.
Dutschke is due to appear in U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss., on April 29.
Dutschke’s arrest comes after the release and dismissal of charges against Paul Kevin Curtis, of Corinth, Miss., who was arrested a day after a letter laced with the poison was discovered addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. A second letter was intercepted before it reached President Obama and a third letter was mailed to Sadie Holland, a justice of the peace in Lee County, Miss.
Dutschke’s home was searched on Tuesday by federal agents after the charges against Curtis were dropped. Curtis had said that Dutschke has had a long-running conflict with him.
While officials contended that the signatures on the letters matched that of Curtis’ online postings and other letters he had mailed, at a bond hearing on Monday, FBI investigators admitted that there was no physical evidence that Curtis had sent ricin, a poison made from ground castor beans, to the officials. Curtis’s attorney, Christi McCoy, called for his release.
