Woman sentenced to over 21 years in prison for mailing ricin to then-President Trump at the White House

WASHINGTON — A 55-year-old woman is set to serve over 21 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for mailing then-President Donald Trump threatening letters containing homemade ricin in 2020.

Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, a dual citizen of Canada and France, was sentenced to 262 months in prison for sending the letters in September 2020 to Trump at the White House, and to eight Texas State law enforcement officials.

Ferrier pleaded guilty on January 25 to prohibitions with respect to biological weapons in two separate criminal cases. 

One case was brought in the District of Columbia, and the other was brought in the Southern District of Texas and transferred to the District of Columbia for purposes of plea and sentencing.

According to court documents, Ferrier admitted to making ricin at her home in Quebec. Ricin is a deadly poison made from castor beans.

Officials say Ferrier placed the ricin toxin in envelopes containing letters she wrote to then-President Trump at the White House and to eight Texas State law enforcement officials. 

In spring 2019, for approximately ten weeks, Ferrier was detained in Texas. She says she believed that the law enforcement officials were connected to her period of detention.

In early September 2020, Ferrier used Twitter to propose that someone should "please shoot Trump in the face."

Officials say she then sent threatening letters to the former president containing ricin and instructed him to "give up and remove his application for this election."

Ferrier then drove a car from Canada to the Peace Bridge Border Crossing in Buffalo, New York on September 20, 2020, where border patrol agents found her in possession of a loaded firearm, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and other weapons, and arrested her. 

Ferrier has remained in custody.

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