The Texas actress accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the head of his gun-control group was sentenced to 18 years in prison. She will also have to pay $367,000 in restitution for her actions.
Shannon Guess Richardson, 36, pleaded guilty as a part of a plea deal in December 2013 to one count of developing, producing, possessing and transferring a biological agent for use as a weapon. Richardson bought the products to make the chemical online.
Richardson was indicted in June 2013 after a jury convicted her of the crimes. In May 2013, Richardson mailed the three letters from her home near Texarkana. She then drove to the police station in Shreveport, La. and attempted to frame her husband, who had filed for divorce, for the crime. She later told the FBI she did not think any of the poisonous letters would be opened because of security measures.
“What’s in this letter is nothing compared to what ive got in store for you mr president,” read the letter to Obama. “You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face.”
Richardson appeared remorseful as she stood in front of the judge to receive her sentencing.
“I never intended for anybody to be hurt,” she said to the court. “I’m not a bad person. I don’t have it in me to hurt anyone.”
Richardson had bit parts in The Walking Dead (2010), The Vampire Diaries (2009) and The Blind Side (2011).
Photo credits: AP; imdb