US

Lawyer asks government for temporary housing for former Miss. suspect in ricin mailing case

Associated Press
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FILE - In this April 23, 2013 file photo, Kevin Curtis speaks to reporters as his brother Jack Curtis looks on in Oxford, Miss. Kevin Curtis' house is uninhabitable after investigators searched it but failed to find evidence of the deadly poison ricin, a lawyer said Monday, April 29, 2013 arguing that the government should repair the home. (AP Photo/Bert Mohr, File) (The Associated Press)

Firefighters decontaminate their comrade who investigated a suspicious letter which caused the closure of the Kirkman building on Monday, April 29, 2013, in Tallahassee, Fla. State and local authorities are examining the state's highway safety building after a suspicious letter was discovered, forcing some 1,500 employees to evacuate. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Tuesday April 23, 2013 file photo, Everett Dutschke stands in the street near his home in Tupelo, Miss., and waits for the FBI to arrive and search his home. Dutschke, charged with making and possessing ricin as part of the investigation into poison-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and others was expected to appear in court Monday April 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Thomas Wells, File) MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

Attorneys for a Mississippi man who was briefly charged with sending ricin-laced letters to the president and others are encouraged by discussions with federal authorities about repairing or replacing their client's home, which was heavily damaged during a search by investigators.

Christi McCoy, an attorney for 45-year-old Elvis impersonator Kevin Curtis, said Monday that she and another attorney had spoken with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office about their client's "uninhabitable" home.

She said a letter she wrote federal authorities "was well-received and we'll be working with the FBI to get all his property returned and get his property repaired."

Curtis was once charged in the mailing of poisoned letters to President Barack Obama, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and a Mississippi judge, but the charges were later dropped and another man was charged.