Florida robbery convict pleads guilty to anthrax threat

Friday, December 10th 2004, 8:25 pm

By: News On 6

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) _ A prison inmate who mailed a letter laced with white powder pleaded guilty Friday to threatening to send anthrax to President Bush, Gov. Jeb Bush and federal employees.

Tests indicated the substance was a harmless body powder, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Len Register.

Roger V. Evans admitted he mailed the envelope in April from Washington Correctional Institution in Chipley to the U.S. District Court clerk's office.

He pleaded guilty to federal charges of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction against federal property and mailing threatening communications. He could face up to life in prison at sentencing March 9.

Evans was sentenced in 1982 to 50 years in prison for robbery with a deadly weapon, and would complete that term before serving a federal sentence. He had a previous robbery conviction in Miami-Dade County.