Jeff Boyd Levenderis, Possessing Ricin, Ohio 2011

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Akron Man Convicted of Possessing Deadly Ricin

A 58-year-old man from Akron, Ohio, has been found guilty of possessing the biological toxin ricin for use as a weapon.

Jeff Boyd Levenderis was convicted after a four-day jury trial in United States District Court in Cleveland, Ohio, on two counts of making false statements to FBI agents, as well as possessing ricin and an unauthorized type or quantity of the substance without justification.

The evidence presented during the trial revealed that Levenderis produced ricin at his home in Akron, sometime after 2000, and kept it in his freezer until it was recovered by FBI agents in January 2011.

The testimony confirmed that the substance Levenderis manufactured contained hundreds of lethal doses if inhaled or injected, and that he intended to use the ricin against his stepfather and first responders who might respond to a fire he planned to set at his house as part of an elaborate suicide plan.

Levenderis will be sentenced on a date yet to be scheduled.

Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew W. Shepherd and Om Kakani, along with Erin Creegan, Trial Attorney with the National Security Division, prosecuted the case, which resulted from an investigation conducted by the FBI.

Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland office, praised the jury for handing down the guilty verdicts.

“The jury’s verdict confirms the danger posed by Jeff Levenderis in our community,” Dettelbach said. “Levenderis produced a dangerous biological weapon that could have been used in multiple ways to harm or kill innocent people. Ricin is a significant threat and the evidence showed the defendant meant to use it. As a result of this conviction, our community is safer.”