Defendant Also Mailed Threatening Ricin Letters to Texas Law Enforcement Officials
WASHINGTON – Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 55, a twin citizen of Canada and France, pleaded responsible in the present day to sending threatening letters containing home made ricin (a toxin) in September 2020 to then-President Donald J. Trump at the White House and to eight Texas State regulation enforcement officers.
The plea was introduced by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani, Assistant Attorney General of the National Security Division Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office David Sundberg, and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office Oliver E. Rich, Jr.
According to courtroom paperwork, Ferrier admitted that she made ricin at her residence in Quebec, Canada, in September 2020. Ricin toxin is a lethal poison produced from the waste materials left over from processing castor beans. Ferrier positioned the ricin in envelopes containing letters she wrote to then-President Trump at the White House and to eight Texas State regulation enforcement officers.
“There is no place for political violence in our country, and no excuse for threatening public officials or endangering our public servants,” stated U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves. “We hope this resolution will serve as a warning that using our mail system to send a toxic substance and other threats of this type will cost you your freedom for many years.”
“This woman did not succeed in her efforts to poison numerous public officials in our district, but her actions still created fear and stress for many of these dedicated public servants,” stated U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. “We are grateful for the hard work of the FBI and our other law enforcement partners in identifying and apprehending her.”
“In addition to her intended targets, Pascale Ferrier’s reckless actions could have harmed postal employees, first responders, or innocent bystanders,” stated David Sundberg, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Today’s plea agreement demonstrates the FBI’s and our partners’ determination to investigate and bring to justice those who seek to harm or intimidate government officials or law enforcement officers.”
“Threats against public officials and law enforcement are unconscionable and will not be tolerated,” stated Special Agent in Charge Oliver E. Rich, Jr., of the FBI San Antonio Division. “The FBI remains committed to working with our partner investigative agencies to protect all Americans from threats of violence and harm.”
Ferrier had been detained in the State of Texas for round ten weeks in the spring of 2019, and she or he believed that the regulation enforcement officers had been linked to her interval of detention. In early September 2020, Ferrier used the Twitter social media service to suggest that somebody ought to “please shoot [T]rump in the face.” The letters in the envelopes contained threatening language, and the letter addressed to then-President Trump instructed him to “[g]ive up and remove [his] application for this election.” Ferrier mailed every of the threatening ricin letters from Canada to the United States. Ferrier then drove a automotive from Canada to the Peace Bridge Border Crossing in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 20, 2020, the place border patrol officers discovered her in possession of a loaded firearm, a whole bunch of rounds of ammunition, and different weapons, and arrested her. Ferrier has remained in custody.
Ferrier pleaded responsible to prohibitions with respect to organic weapons in two separate legal circumstances earlier than the Honorable Dabney L. Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. One case was introduced in the District of Columbia, and the different was introduced in the Southern District of Texas and transferred to the District of Columbia for functions of plea and sentencing.
The Honorable Dabney L. Friedrich scheduled the sentencing listening to for April 26, 2023, when Ferrier can be sentenced to 262 months in jail if the Court accepts the plea agreements.
The investigation was dealt with by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and San Antonio Field Office. Assistance was supplied by the United States Secret Service and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Friedman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; Assistant United States Attorneys Rob Jones, David Coronado, and David Lindenmuth of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, and Trial Attorney David Smith of the DOJ’s National Security Division Counterterrorism Section.
Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Mailing Ricin to President of the United States in 2020 | USAO-DC
Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Mailing Ricin to President of the United States in 2020 | USAO-DC
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Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Mailing Ricin to President of the United States in 2020 | USAO-DC