Federal grand jury indicts Riverton man in ricin scare

A federal grand jury has indicted a Riverton man accused of lying to federal investigators about ricin discovered in a Las Vegas motel room.

Thomas Tholen, 54, was indicted Wednesday on a single charge of misprision of felony, accusing him of knowing that a crime had been committed — that ricin had been manufactured — but failing to report the crime to authorities. Federal prosecutors also accused Tholen of lying to investigators to cover up the crime.

"He knew more than he stated and that what he did state was misrepresentative," U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman told reporters Wednesday.

Tholen's attorney, Greg Skordas, said the man was cooperative.

"We feel the information he gave them was truthful and honest," he told the Deseret Morning News.

Tholen is the cousin of Roger Bergendorff, 57, who fell ill in February with what appears to be ricin poisoning. When Tholen cleaned out Bergendorff's room at an extended-stay motel near the Las Vegas Strip, he discovered the vials of ricin and took them to the motel office. Six people had to be decontaminated when it was learned it was the deadly toxin. Tholen's family was also decontaminated when they arrived at their Riverton home.

Clad in hazardous-materials suits, authorities conducted a massive search at the Tholen home and three West Jordan storage units rented by Bergendorff, who had lived with his cousin for a time. FBI agents refused to divulge if they found any sign of the deadly toxin in their searches, but indicated the ricin may have been manufactured in Utah.

"I can't say for certain where it was produced. That's what Mr. Tholen has indicated. We can't say with 100 percent certainty," said Tim Fuhrman, the special agent-in-charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City office.

Inside Bergendorff's motel room, Las Vegas police said they had also found "anarchist-type" textbooks earmarked to pages on manufacturing ricin. Guns were also found in the room.

Ricin is a toxin made from castor beans, and is deadly in the tiniest of portions. The Centers for Disease Control said as little as 500 micrograms of ricin — an amount that would be about the size of the head of a pin — could be enough to kill an adult if inhaled or injected.

Health officials have said there is no public health threat currently in the Tholen home or Salt Lake County.

Bergendorff is recovering in a Nevada hospital from symptoms consistent with ricin poisoning. On Wednesday, federal authorities confirmed Bergendorff is the target of a federal probe in Nevada as part of the multi-state ricin investigation. What they refused to divulge was a possible motive, saying there was no sign that Tholen or Bergendorff had links to any terrorist organizations.

"We still don't have any indication that it was planned as an act of terror," Fuhrman said. "But we cannot say for certain that it was not planned."

Misprision of felony is a rarely filed charge, but the potential punishment is three years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com