A former Pennsylvania laboratory employee yesterday received a six-year prison sentence for trying to use a deadly chemical against her husband's mistress, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 6, 2007).
Carol Anne Bond, 36, must also serve five years on supervised release and can have no contact during that period with her intended victim. She faces a $2,000 fine and $9,000 in restitution payments.
Defense attorney Robert Goldman had argued for a sentence of between 57 and 71 months.
"We were hoping that the judge would recognize her mental state and her diminished capacity," he said. "We just didn't catch a break today."
He argued that his client should not have faced a chemical weapons charge intended to be used against terrorists, AP reported.
"One who in a fit of anger throws Ajax at an opponent commits the offense designed to imprison the disciples of Bin Laden, Khalif Muhammad and other terrorist groups," Goldman said in one court document.
The former laboratory technician was suspected of stealing 4 pounds of potassium dichromate from her employer, Rohm & Haas. Ingesting the material can be fatal, according to federal authorities.
Bond acknowledged leaving potentially lethal material on the front door handle and in the car tail pipe of her husband's mistress. The intended victim, Myrlinda Haynes, suffered no harm.
Bond remains married even though her husband had a child with Haynes (Associated Press/PennLive.com, June 4).