Global Security Newswire

A troubled drifter received a 42-month federal prison sentence yesterday after pleading guilty in August to possessing ricin, a lethal biological toxin, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 5).

Roger Bergendorff told a federal court in Las Vegas that he never meant to harm anyone by producing ricin and carrying it with him in a vial for years l. His cousin discovered the material early this year in a hotel room after Bergendorff fell ill and was hospitalized. The relative was punished for temporarily concealing the crime (see GSN, Oct. 23).

U.S. District Judge Robert Jones assigned a prison term that was five months longer than requested by prosecutors.

"You not only proved a material threat to yourself, you proved a material threat to everyone around you when you possessed this stuff," Jones said. He also issued a $7,500 fine which he said was intended to compel the 57-year-old Bergendorff to consider a work-release program (Oskar Garcia, Associated Press/Google News, Nov. 17).

Bergendorff told the judge that he had struggled with drugs and alcohol, failed relationships and family deaths, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"I felt this was a harmless outlet for my anger, a potential shield" from others, Bergendorff said. "I could not have used it even if I wanted to, because I fear God's judgment."

"I'm not a religious zealot, a killer, a nut or a terrorist," he added (Ashley Powers, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 18).