Pregnant ‘Vampire Diaries’ Actress Charged With Sending Ricin Letter To President Obama [VIDEO]

Shannon Richardson, 35,   also known as Shannon Rogers and Shannon Guess, was arrested and charged Friday with sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, reports CNN^[1].

The Texas actress, who has appeared in “The Walking Dead” and “Vampire Diaries,” tried to place the blame on her estranged husband, Nathaniel Richardson, who has denied all involvement.

Letters threatening Obama were found on Shannon Richardson’s computer, and FBI determined that Nathaniel was not involved because he was not at home at the time that they were printed out.

Read more from CNN^[2]:

[Richardson] is accused of mailing a threatening communication to the president and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney John M. Bales’ office in Texas.

Also on Thursday, Nathaniel Richardson filed for divorce. His wife is pregnant, and the anticipated birth date and sex of the fetus is not known, the divorce lawsuit said. The couple married on October 8, 2011, the suit said.

Shannon Richardson allegedly also mailed a third letter with the toxin ricin to Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which was founded and co-chaired by Bloomberg, the FBI arrest affidavit said. The group’s office is in Washington.

She made an initial appearance Friday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven in Texarkana, Texas, the prosecutor said. She was arrested in Mount Pleasant, Texas, authorities said.

The three letters were mailed from Shreveport, Louisiana, last month, federal authorities say.

As previously reported by NewsOne^[3], U.S marshals arrested Everett Dutschke, 41, of Tupelo, Mississippi, in April for mailing letters laced with the poison ricin to President Barack Obama and two other public officials, report Reuters^[4].

According to the DJ Journal^[5], Dutschke was charged with “knowingly developing, producing, stockpiling, transferring, acquiring, retaining and possessing a biological agent, toxin and delivery system, for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin, and with attempting, threatening and conspiring to do the same, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 175(a). If convicted on this charge, Dutschke faces maximum possible penalties of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and 5 years of supervised release.”

References

1. ^{^}CNN (www.cnn.com)
2. ^{^}CNN (www.cnn.com)
3. ^{^}NewsOne (newsone.com)
4. ^{^}Reuters (www.reuters.com)
5. ^{^}DJ Journal (djournal.com)