Woman pleads guilty to sending ricin letter to Trump in 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Canadian woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to sending a threatening letter containing the poison ricin to then-President Donald Trump at the White House.

Pascale Ferrier’s letter, which instructed Trump to “resign and withdraw your bid for this election,” was intercepted at a mail sorting facility in September 2020 before it could reach the White House.

The 55-year-old Quebec woman also pleaded guilty to sending similar threatening letters to Texas law enforcement officials. She is expected to be sentenced to 262 months in prison, nearly 22 years, as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. A hearing on the verdict is scheduled for April.

“There is no place for political violence in our country and no excuse for threatening public officials or endangering our government officials,” US Attorney in Washington Matthew Graves said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Ferrier manufactured the ricin, a potentially deadly poison derived from processing castor beans, and then sent it to Trump with a letter that referred to him as “The Ugly Tyrant Clown” and read excerpts: “If it doesn’t work, I’ll find a better recipe for another poison, or I’ll use my gun if I can come.” Enjoy! FREE REBEL SPIRIT.”

She was arrested trying to enter a border crossing in Buffalo, New York, with a gun, knife and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, authorities said. Her attorneys did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the plea.

The investigation also found eight letters to Texas officials linked to facilities where Ferrier was detained in 2019. The notes created “anxiety and stress” though they failed to poison their targets, said Alamdar Hamdani, the US Storney for the Southern District of Texas.

Ferrier pleaded guilty to violating the biological weapons ban in two separate criminal cases, filed in Washington and Texas.

Ferrier immigrated to Canada from France and holds dual citizenship from both countries.