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Miss. man charged with making same poison contained in letters sent to president, 2 others

Associated Press
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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 in connection with the sending of poisoned letters to President Barack Obama and others. (AP Photo/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Thomas Wells, File) (The Associated Press)

James Everett Dutschke works on his minivan in his driveway in Tupelo, Miss., Friday, April 26, 2013. FBI spokeswoman Deborah Madden says Dutschke, 41, was arrested Saturday, April 27, 2013, at his Tupelo home. U.S. Attorney Felicia C. Adams and Daniel McMullen, the FBI agent in charge in Mississippi, announced later Saturday that Dutschke has been charged with making and possessing ricin in the investigation into poison-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and 80-year-old Mississippi judge Sadie Holland. (AP Photo/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Thomas Wells) MANDATORY CREDIT (The Associated Press)

The arrest of a 41-year-old Mississippi martial arts instructor in a probe of poison-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and others capped a week in which investigators initially zeroed in on a different man.

Federal authorities arrested James Everett Dutschke (DUHS'-kee) early Saturday at his home in Tupelo. He is charged with making and possessing the poisonous ricin for use as a weapon.

Dutschke is expected to appear Monday in U.S. District Court in Oxford. He faces up to life in prison, if convicted.

Earlier in the week, Dutschke insisted he had nothing to do with the letters.

Charges were dropped previously against another man, 45-year-old Paul Kevin Curtis. Curtis' lawyers say he had been framed.

Dutschke's attorney, Lori Nail Basham, said she had no comment.