Sentencing in Mississippi poison-letters case

ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily delayed sentencing for a Mississippi man who pleaded guilty to making ricin and sending letters laced with the poison to President Barack Obama and other officials.

James Everett Dutschke (DUHS’-kee) pleaded guilty in January to sending the tainted letters to Obama as well as Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and Mississippi judge Sadie Holland. He was to be sentenced Tuesday in Aberdeen, Mississippi.

At the sentencing, Dutschke spoke for 30 minutes in the courtroom, arguing he had committed no crime and that the substance involved never could have been toxic and that FBI agents and federal prosecutors committed perjury.

Afterward, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock told Dutschke to talk with his lawyer about whether to withdraw the guilty plea.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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