Ricin

LAS VEGAS -- An unemployed graphic designer who told investigators that he found making ricin an "exotic idea" pleaded guilty Monday to possessing the deadly toxin in a hotel room here.

Roger Bergendorff, 57, also pleaded guilty to a federal weapons charge. (A second weapons charge was dropped.) He could face up to 20 years in prison at his Nov. 3 sentencing, though prosecutors are recommending that he serve a little more than three years.

Bergendorff reportedly fantasized about harming people with the poison -- he had sketched an "injection delivery device" disguised as a pen -- but never carried anything out, court documents said.

There is no indication that Bergendorff was linked to terrorism or was part of a broader plot, said Assistant U.S. Atty. J. Gregory Damm. Bergendorff told investigators that "he experimented with a lot of things, even counterfeiting," court papers said.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-ricin5-2008aug05,0,878596.story