A Kansas man is accused of sending an envelope containing white powder and a threatening note to a prosecutor who’d helped put him in prison.
John Phillip Barker was charged Friday with mailing what he claimed was anthrax to Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Smith at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas City, Kan. Barker is serving a prison sentence for mailing a similar letter to the Internal Revenue Service. Smith prosecuted Barker in the 2008 IRS case, according to court records.
Part of the evidence against Barker: He allegedly can’t spell. The note to Smith referred to the white substance as “antrax.” That spelling “was consistent with the spelling of ‘antrax’ that was employed by defendant Barker in the last case where he mailed threats to the IRS,” the complaint says.
The note to Smith read, ”YOU HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO ANTRAX DIE.” Read the criminal complaint here and the affidavit in support of the complaint here.
The FBI wasted time and money determining that the powder was harmless, the complaint says. A Kansas U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson declined to comment.
