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 As part of a deal reached with federal prosecutors that has yet to
be approved by a judge, Shannon Guess Richardson, 36, would spend 18
years in prison and then five years on supervised release, according
to court documents.
Richardson, whose career included minor television roles in shows
such as "The Walking Dead," tried to blame her husband for the
letters that were sent in May, according to prosecutors.
The letters read, in part: "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," according to court documents.
In a court document signed by Richardson, she outlines how she
extracted the toxin using castor beans, lye and syringes that she
bought with her husband's credit card.
The New Boston, Texas, woman was initially charged with one count of
making a threat against the president of the United States and two
counts of mailing threatening communications with each charge
carrying as much as five years in prison.
The new charges of manufacturing and possessing the toxic substances
carry as much as life in prison. Richardson was arrested in June
and a federal grand jury accused her in a three-count indictment of
mailing the letters to Obama, Bloomberg and Mark Glaze, the director
of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group founded by Bloomberg that
lobbies for stricter gun laws.
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Ricin, a highly toxic substance, is found naturally in castor beans,
but it takes a deliberate act to manufacture it and use it to poison
people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Exposure to even a small amount of ricin can cause death and no
known antidote exists.
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz, Gunna Dickson and Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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