NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A 63-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to possessing the poison ricin in Virginia.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the state’s Eastern District said Debbie Siers-Hill entered her plea Tuesday in Norfolk. She faces up to five years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
Virginia Beach police said they found the ricin in a storage facility in 2016. The poison is made from castor beans. There is no antidote for it.
Police also said they recovered castor beans, guns and a syringe containing ricin. Authorities said Siers-Hill was living in Virginia Beach at the time. She now lives in Summerville, South Carolina.
Ricin is regulated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Federal authorities said Siers-Hill failed to comply with registration requirements.
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