East Texas Woman Accused of Ricin Letters Held in Jail

TEXARKANA (AP) – The East Texas woman accused of mailing poison-laced letters to President Barack Obama and others has been ordered to remain behind bars until her trial. Richardson appeared Wednesday morning for a detention hearing in federal court in Texarkana. U.S. Magistrate Caroline Craven denied Shannon Guess Richardson’s request for bond, ruling that Richardson was a serious flight risk. Authorities say the New Boston, Texas, actress sent ricin-laced letters to Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and a leader of the mayor’s gun-control group. Court documents state she then tried to frame her husband for the crime. Richardson was arrested in June in Mt. Pleasant. She’s charged with two counts of threat by mail and one of threatening the president. She remains jailed after giving birth in July.