Man gets 3.5 years for ricin possession

LAS VEGAS — A man who made enough ricin to kill hundreds of people — and kept it with him for a decade as he moved to various Western states — was sentenced Monday to 3 1/2 years in federal prison for possessing the deadly toxin.

Roger Bergendorff said at his sentencing in Las Vegas that he never intended to hurt anyone.

"I know it sounds crazy. I made it just to have — and that's why I kept it," he said.

Authorities have characterized the 57-year-old Bergendorff as a troubled man, but no terrorist. Their concern had been heightened in February, when the ricin was found in the unemployed graphic designer's Las Vegas motel room while he lay unconscious in a hospital bed.

Bergendorff detailed a life of personal torment and grief before he was sentenced, but said he never was motivated to use the deadly poison.

"I fear God's judgment," he said.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Jones told Bergendorff that he needed to understand the severity of his crime.

"You not only proved a material threat to yourself, you proved a material threat to everyone around you when you possessed this stuff," said Jones, who also imposed a $7,500 fine, which he said was designed to force Bergendorff into a work release program.

The sentencing ended a dramatic saga that once raised fears Bergendorff had poisoned himself while plotting a biological attack on tourists or unsuspecting gamblers on the Las Vegas Strip, home to nearly 138,000 hotel rooms.

In a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to possession of a biological toxin and possession of unregistered handgun silencers. Bergendorff's sentence was five months longer than recommended by prosecutors. He could have faced up to 30 years in prison and $750,000 in fines if convicted of all charges against him.

In interviews with The Associated Press, Bergendorff has admitted distilling the lethal powder from the beans of a backyard castor plant while he lived in San Diego in 1998. He said he carried it with him for a decade while living in Reno, in Utah and in Las Vegas.

Bergendorff said years of grief over dead family members, substance abuse problems and lost girlfriends led him to develop the toxin, which he considered a "harmless outlet for my anger" at the time.

"I really didn't think God had it out for me, but it felt that way," he said.

He has been steadfast that he would never have released it, accidentally or on purpose.