Canadian charged in ricin case has Texas ties
WASHINGTON — A Canadian woman with Texas ties pleaded not guilty Tuesday in federal court in New York to sending a threatening, ricin-laced letter to President Donald Trump.
Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 53, was charged by complaint with one felony count of making a threat against the U.S. president. The FBI in charging papers also alleged that she was linked to similar letters sent to employees at detention facilities in Texas, where she was incarcerated last year.
Ferrier, a computer programmer from Quebec, was arrested Sunday in Buffalo, N.Y., upon reentering the United States from Canada. She made an initial court appearance Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Kenneth Schroeder of Buffalo, who entered the plea.
“I found a new name for you: ‘The Ugly Tyrant Clown,’ ” Ferrier allegedly wrote in a letter examined by the FBI and Secret Service that was mailed to Trump and that tested positive for the poison, according to an FBI charging affidavit.
“I made a Special Gift for you to make a decision . . . . If it doesn’t work, I’ll find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when I’ll be able to come. Enjoy! FREE REBEL SPIRIT,” the letter continued, FBI Special Agent Bomb Technician Jonathan Preston attested.
If convicted, Ferrier faces up to five years in prison. Ferrier was charged by prosecutors in Washington, but if she decides to plead guilty she could enter her plea and face sentencing in Buffalo if prosecutors agree, Schroeder said.
In court on Tuesday, Assistant Federal Defender Fonda Kubiak said Ferrier would exercise her right to a hearing next week, when U.S. prosecutors will be required to show probable cause that she committed the crime and to prove that she is the woman named in charging papers.
Schroeder ordered Ferrier to remain jailed until a hearing Monday, after Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Lynch said the government would seek her detention because she is accused of a crime of violence and could flee to Canada.
The Secret Service alerted the FBI on Friday morning to the letter, which was received at an offsite facility near Washington where mail addressed to the White House is screened and tested for dangerous substances, Preston said in the affidavit.
While submitting the letter for examination, the FBI’s Washington field office was informed by counterparts in San Antonio and Houston that six similar letters containing a powdery substance and apparently mailed from Canada were received in Texas this month, Preston wrote.
The FBI alleged that the letters were sent by the same person, saying they were addressed to individuals working at penitentiaries and detention facilities in the state where Ferrier had been held, contained similar references to a “special gift for you” and included “FREE REBEL SPIRIT” in the signature block.
An individual named Pascale Ferrier was arrested by police in Mission, Texas, on March 13, 2019, for weapons possession and transferred to U.S. immigration authorities, the FBI said. The FBI alleged that fingerprints recovered from four of the letters matched those of the defendant.
Court records in Hidalgo County show that an individual named Pascale Ferrier was charged on March 29, 2019, by Mission police with using a fake driver’s license, and that the count was dismissed after she was detained for 20 days on a first offense. The outcome of the weapons case was unclear.
The Canadian Broadcasting Company reported on Monday that Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers with expertise in handling chemicals and explosives searched a condo in Quebec.
The FBI said that social media accounts registered using an email address in Pascale Ferrier’s name posted messages on Sept. 9 referring to #killTrump and “Ugly Clown Tyrant.”
Ferrier allegedly made statements referencing being wanted by the FBI for the ricin letters when she was apprehended Sunday at the Peace Bridge border crossing into Buffalo from Fort Erie, Ontario, while carrying a loaded firearm in her waistband and a knife, Preston wrote.