Canadian Woman Sentenced to 22 Years for Sending Ricin-Laced Letters to Trump
A Canadian woman has been sentenced to 22 years in jail for mailing letters containing the deadly poison ricin to former President Donald Trump while he was in office. Pascale Ferrier, a 56-year-old dual citizen of France and Canada, was handed the lengthy prison term by District Judge Dabney Friedrich. Following her sentence, Ferrier will be deported from the US and will be subject to lifetime supervision if she ever returns.
During the trial, Judge Friedrich condemned Ferrier’s actions as potentially deadly and harmful to you, harmful to society, harmful to the potential victims. Ferrier expressed remorse for her failed plan and her inability to harm the former President, asserting that she saw herself as an activist rather than a terrorist. She claimed to seek peaceful means to achieve her goals.
The FBI linked Ferrier to the ricin-laced letter through her fingerprints, which urged Trump to drop out of the presidential race. The letter also referred to him as The Ugly Tyrant Clown, according to documents filed by the FBI. Ferrier also confessed to sending similar toxic letters to eight law enforcement officials in Texas, blaming them for her previous detention in 2019.
Ferrier was apprehended in September 2020 while crossing the border into Buffalo, New York, armed with a gun, knife, and rounds of ammunition. In subsequent investigations, she admitted to producing ricin, a highly toxic substance derived from castor beans. Ferrier meticulously added the poison to an envelope along with her letter. She had pleaded guilty to charges related to biological weapons in January and agreed to the 22-year sentence.
Ricin has no known antidote and can cause death within 36 to 72 hours, depending on the dosage. It is a deadly poison, making such incidents highly alarming. Notably, in 2014, a Mississippi man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for mailing ricin-laced letters to then-President Barack Obama and other officials.
This incident serves as a reminder of the potential dangers posed by dangerous substances and the importance of combating acts of terrorism. The severity of the sentence handed down to Ferrier underscores the gravity of her actions and sends a strong message regarding the consequences of attempting to harm public figures.
