An actress who posted ricin-laced letters to US President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been given an 18-year prison term.
Federal judge gave Shannon Guess Richardson, 36, the maximum sentence under her plea deal on a charge of possessing and producing a biological toxin. She was also ordered to pay restitution. She pleaded guilty to the charge in December.
“I never intended for anybody to be hurt,” she told the court, adding later, “I’m not a bad person, I don’t have it in me to hurt anyone.”
Richardson said she thought security measures would prevent the letters from ever being opened.
The mother of six, has played small roles in The Vampire Diaries and The Walking Dead, according to IMDB.
Prosecutors say that after ordering the ingredients online, she made the ricin and then posted three letters before going to police and claiming her estranged husband was to blame.