Man at centre of Vegas ricin case charged

LAS VEGAS (AP) — An unemployed graphic designer who authorities believe was nearly killed by ricin was arrested Wednesday on federal charges that he possessed the deadly toxin as part of an "exotic idea," never carried out, to poison his enemies.

Roger Bergendorff, who authorities allege began making ricin a decade ago, was arrested upon his release from the hospital where he had been treated since Feb. 14.

He is charged with possession of a biological toxin and two weapons offenses stemming from materials authorities said were found Feb. 26 and Feb. 28 in his room at an extended-stay motel several blocks off the Las Vegas Strip.

"He was released from the hospital and he's in custody," said FBI agent Joseph Dickey, a spokesman for the bureau's Las Vegas office.

The charges carry a possible penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a $750,000 fine. Bergendorff, 57, was scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon before a federal judge in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.

Prosecutors said in a six-page complaint that Bergendorff told investigators he first made ricin in San Diego in the late 1990s, and later made the substance while living in Reno and in the basement of his cousin's house in Riverton, Utah.

The complaint said that a June 2002 receipt for castor bean seed, purchased from a Michigan company, was found in an Utah storage locker rented by Bergendorff. The listed purchaser, "Roger's Patio and Garden," was apparently a fictitious business created by Bergendorff, the complaint said.

Cancer research is the only legal use for ricin, which has no antidote and can be lethal in amounts the size of the head of a pin.

Authorities do not allege Bergendorff's possession of ricin had anything to do with terrorism, according to court documents.

"Bergendorff characterized the production of ricin as an 'exotic idea,'" the complaint said.

Over the course of several interviews with the FBI, "Bergendorff admitted that there have been people who have made him mad over the years and he had thoughts about causing them harm to the point of making some plans," the complaint said. "However, he maintained that he never acted on those thoughts or plans."