Woman Faces Sentencing For Ricin-Laced Letters To Obama

FILE - In this June 7, 2013 file photo, Shannon Richardson is placed into a Titus County Sheriff's car after an initial appearance at the federal building Texarkana, Texas. Richardson, accused of sending ricin-laced... FILE - In this June 7, 2013 file photo, Shannon Richardson is placed into a Titus County Sheriff's car after an initial appearance at the federal building Texarkana, Texas. Richardson, accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors. The Texarkana Gazette reported Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013, Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Coan added into the case docket for Shannon Guess Richardson a one-line entry that states "notice of plea agreement." The terms of the deal have not yet been made public. (AP Photo/The Texarkana Gazette, Curt Youngblood, File) MANDATORY CREDIT MORE LESS

TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman faces sentencing for sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The sentencing hearing for 36-year-old Shannon Guess Richardson is set for Wednesday in federal court in Texarkana, Texas.

Richardson pleaded guilty in December to possessing and producing a biological toxin. Her attorney says that under the plea deal her prison time would be capped at 18 years.

Richardson was arrested in June 2013 after authorities said she tried to implicate her estranged husband after he filed for divorce. Prosecutors say Richardson, who had minor acting roles in film and television, mailed three letters from New Boston, outside Texarkana, then went to police and claimed that her husband did it.

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  1. Sentence capped at 18 years. Doesn’t seem quite long enough for attempted assassination.

  2. This wasn’t a assignation attempt, this was a woman upset with her personal life and relation to her husband that is in need of counseling maybe mental help.

  3. did I see a hint of crazy eyes???

  4. Ingestion/exposure of an amount of ricin equal to 1/200th of an aspirin tablet would have killed the POTUS or Mr. Bloomberg. Seems like a pretty light sentence to me (and yes, she may be in need of counseling, but she clearly was sane when she did this premeditated act).

  5. Don’t look for sympathy from me

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