By Hillary Houston, HottyToddy.com staff writer, and Michael Harrelson, editor, HottyToddy.com
hrhousto@gmail.com
michael.harrelson@hottytoddy.com
A Corinth, Mississippi, man arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with conveying threats against President Barrack Obama and Senator Roger Wicker is denying involvement in the mailing of threatening letters that allegedly contained the poison ricin.
Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, is alleged to have sent ricin-laced letters to Obama and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker on April 8.
After his initial appearance at the federal courthouse in Oxford on Thursday morning, Curtis’ attorney Christi McCoy told HottyToddy.com that her client is innocent of the charges being lodged against him.
“Kevin maintains one hundred percent that he did not do this,” McCoy said. “At this point, I have not seen any true evidence to the contrary. He was absolutely surprised.”
McCoy said Curtis told her of being surrounded at his home by a number of black vehicles and big guns prior to his being taken into federal custody.
“He was leaving his home to go to his former home where his former wife and children live. He actually had his son’s dog and his groceries. He was going to cook for the family,” McCoy said.
Curtis is expected to appear in the United States District Court in Oxford later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander.
Contained in the letter sent to Sen. Wicker was the following language: “No one wanted to listen to me before. There are still ‘Missing Pieces’. Maybe I have your attention now. Even if that means someone must die. This must stop. To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner in its continuance. I am KC and I approve this message.”
The arrest resulted from a cooperative investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi and Memphis Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the United State Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Capitol Police, the United States Attorney’s offices for the Northern District of Mississippi and the Western District of Tennessee , and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Local and state law enforcement agencies assisted in the arrest, including the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Corinth Police Department, Tupelo Police Department and the Booneville Police Department.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday in Oxford.
Christi McCoy speaks with HottyToddy.com reporters outside of the United States Federal Building in Oxford, Miss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fRsvbQq-rg
