Fake anthrax threats snare inmate

Haslam, others received letters

NASHVILLE — A Tennessee prison inmate has been indicted by a federal grand jury here on charges he sent threatening letters with fake anthrax to Gov. Bill Haslam and other state officials last year, federal prosecutors said Friday.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Nashville said a federal grand jury handed down a 10-count indictment Thursday against Branden Frady, 32, of Johnson City, charging him with sending threats through the mail and conveying false information indicating the use or attempted use of anthrax.

The indictment alleges that between Sept. 10 and Sept. 18, 2012, while Frady was a prisoner at the state’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, he prepared and sent six threatening letters to Haslam, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, the U.S. Post Office, and an assistant district attorney in Nashville.

Four of the letters made explicit death threats and contained white powder that the letters said was anthrax.

The indictment alleges the first letter to Haslam contained threats but no powder, but a second letter to the governor held a white powder and stated, “This time I am sending you some anthrax,” and “you will die.”

Another example alleged in the indictment is that the defendant sent a letter from prison to the Davidson County district attorney general’s office containing a white powder and the warnings, “here is some anthrax,” “you got to die,” and “I will kill you.”

When the letter arrived Sept. 11 and was opened, Nashville police and firefighters evacuated the offices and closed nearby buildings.

A second letter to the DA’s office said, “I’m back,” “Here is some anthrax for real,” and claimed “there is a bomb being placed in the D.A. Office, the Governor Office and the Post Office in Nashville so you will blow up.”

Haslam’s press secretary, David Smith, said mail-room employees don’t recall such a letter.

If convicted, Frady faces a maximum of five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each count. He has been a state inmate since he was sentenced May 1, 2010. His state sentence ends Jan. 15, 2016. He was denied parole in November 2011.

“Threats involving the use of weapons of mass destruction cause significant disruption in the workplace and to government operation,” U.S. Atty. Jerry Martin said Friday.

“Such threats often exhaust public safety resources and cause needless home to the public. For those who choose to engage in such conduct, the U.S. attorney’s office and our law enforcement partners will act swiftly to neutralize the threat, identify those responsible and bring them to justice.”