Man in hoax anthrax scare did it before, officials say

SAN FRANCISCO — A California man suspected of mailing more than 120 hoax anthrax letters to media outlets was interviewed previously by the FBI after one similar mailing in 2007, but he was not charged.

Marc M. Keyser, 66, was interviewed by the FBI in January 2007 for allegedly sending a package containing a small aerosol can labeled "Anthrax," along with a CD, to the Sacramento News and Review, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in federal court.

Keyser told agents then that he was using the mailing as a publicity stunt for a novel he had penned, and "to model what would happen if a terrorist were to use anthrax ... to show the amount of anthrax a terrorist might spray into the air conditioning system in a shopping mall." The can did not contain anthrax.

Agents warned Keyser that he violated federal law and could be prosecuted, but they didn't arrest him. Agent Filip Colfescu said in the complaint that Keyser at the time apologized for the hoax "and told agents they should not worry, that he would not be doing it again."

Assistant U.S. Aattorney Benjamin Wagner, who is prosecuting the current case, said Keyser was not charged in 2007 because "it was a very much more limited conduct at that point. It was one instance. He was admonished."

Keyser was arrested at his home in Sacramento on Wednesday and is being charged with three counts of mailing hoax anthrax threats. At least some of the packages had Keyser's return address on them, and agents found 11 more packets in Keyser's car, according to the complaint.

None of the packets has so far tested positive for hazardous material, the agency said.

Keyser appeared briefly in U.S. District Court Thursday, and the judge assigned public defender Rachelle Barbour to his case.

Barbour declined to comment outside the courtroom. Keyser is being held in a county jail until a judge rules on whether he can be released on bail. He did not enter a plea and is due back in court Friday.

The investigation began after The Atlantic magazine received a letter Monday.

Media outlets in North Carolina, California and Washington state also have received the letters, as has Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif., and a Sacramento McDonald's. Offices were briefly evacuated in some cases.

On Thursday, more newspapers reported receiving the packages, including the San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, the Boston Herald and The Christian Science Monitor.