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55-year-old woman with dual French and Canadian nationality was handed a prison sentence of nearly 22 years on Thursday. She had been found guilty of sending a letter containing lethal ricin to the former US president, Donald Trump.
In January, Pascale Ferrier pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession and use of prohibited biological weapons.
Ferrier confessed to producing ricin, an immensely toxic plant protein sourced from castor bean seeds, within her Quebec residence in September 2020.
During that same month, she dispatched a letter containing ricin from Canada to the White House, specifically addressed to Trump. In addition, she sent poison-laden letters to eight law enforcement officials in Texas.
The missive directed at Trump exhibited “threatening language” and urged his withdrawal from the upcoming election, as outlined by the Justice Department.
I received a new moniker for you: ‘The Eccentric Jester Sovereign.’ I trust you’ll appreciate it,” the note conveyed. “Should it prove unsuitable, I shall concoct a superior concoction for an alternative elixir, or perhaps resort to my firearm when circumstances permit my arrival. May you relish the jest!”
Around the time of sending the letter, Ferrier had also posted a tweet on Twitter where she made a disturbing remark suggesting harm to Trump.
Making threats against the US president is a serious offense that can result in a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
In 2019, Ferrier was held in detention for approximately 10 weeks in Texas on charges of weapons possession, a matter she would later attribute to the law enforcement officials to whom she would eventually direct her letters. Fortunately, the toxic contents of these letters did not cause harm, thanks in part to the protocol of processing all White House mail at a suburban Washington facility, which includes threat screening.
Following the dispatch of the letters, Ferrier made an attempt to cross into the United States at an official border point in Buffalo, New York, on September 20, 2020. Her arrest ensued, during which authorities discovered a firearm and hundreds of rounds of ammunition within her vehicle, as reported by the Justice Department.
