‘Walking Dead’ actress charged with mailing ricin letters to Bloomberg, Obama
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg waits to speak at the North American Board Meeting for the Union for Reform Judaism on May 31, 2013 in New York City. Ricin-laced letters have been sent to Bloomberg and a group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which he leads.
Police have charged Shannon Guess Richardson, a 35-year-old actress pregnant with her sixth child, with threatening the president after she told the FBI her husband mailed ricin-laced letters to politicians.
Guess Richardson told federal agents earlier that her husband, Nathaniel Richardson, sent the letters to President Barack Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the mayor’s gun-control lobby.
She made her first court appearance on Friday afternoon in Texarkana, Texas, The Associated Press said.
Richardson’s lawyer said the couple was amid a divorce proceeding.
“There are a lot of factors I’m aware of that indicate (Nathaniel Richardson) was set up in this deal by her,” Delk told the AP.
Guess Richardson faces 10 years in prison if convicted.
On Internet Movie Database, she lists on her resume roles in movies like “The Change Up,” “The Blind Side” and “Madea’s Big Happy Family.”
She’s appeared as a zombie in “The Walking Dead” as well as roles in “Drop Dead Diva” and “The Vampire Diaries.”
More from GlobalPost: FBI question Texas man about ricin letters
Reuters reported that Guess Richardson admitted to framing her husband.
“Fortunately, neither Mayor Bloomberg, President Obama, the director of the Mayors Committee Against Illegal Guns, nor those who processed the ricin-laced mail incurred serious illness or injury,” New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a news release.
KTBS.com reported that after her hearing, paramedics transported Guess Richardson to hospital. There was no reason given to reporters.
The FBI interviewed Richardson last week and released him without charges.
Someone mailed the ricin letters to Bloomberg and Obama on May 20 with a postmark from Shreveport, La.
More from GlobalPost: Can ricin really kill you?
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