Virginia Inmate Convicted for Sending Blood-Smeared Letters to Officials

Man said he wanted to infect people with hepatitis

Richard Wayne Crowder was convicted this weekend for sending blood-smeared letters threatening President Barack Obama, local judges and a federal agent, the Roanoke Times reported.

The Virginia prison inmate pleaded not guilty but offered no defense during a two-day trial.

Crowder was an inmate at Red Onion State Prison when he mailed the letters to the Roanoke and Roanoke County Circuit Court clerks' offices last summer. In the letters, Crowder claimed to have hepatitis C and AIDS. He later told federal agents and prosecutors he was not HIV positive but did have hepatitis and wanted to infect anyone who touched his letters.

Crowder will be sentenced in January. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

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