Anthrax Hoax Suspect Faces 75 Felonies

To Jerron Mario Moffitt, 20, it was an April Fool's big prank: randomly placing envelopes filled with a dangerous-appearing white substance on 48 vehicles and in 31 mailboxes in his own Sun 'n Lake neighborhood and as far away as DeSoto City. The result: shutting down Florida Hospital Heartland for 14 hours and dozens of police and emergency workers on standby.

Even Moffit's own father got an envelope in his mailbox, the suspect told deputies. While Moffitt was being photographed in Highlands County Jail, he flashed an unremorseful grin for the booking camera.

"It appeared by his conversation with detectives that he thought it was a joke," Sheriff Susan Benton said. "When he realizes the severity of 75 second-degree felonies, maybe he won't think it's so funny."

Moffitt, 6 feet tall, 245 pounds, a convicted burglar and thief, was arrested at 8 p.m. Friday and charged with 79 counts of hoax of a weapon of mass destruction, because some of the envelopes contained a hand-drawn smiley face with the warning, "Define Anthrax."

Each second-degree felony charge could carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. As the investigation continues, more charges could be added.

Sheriff's records show Moffitt has been arrested in the past for theft, loitering, prowling and possession of burglary tools.

"He's on probation from those other charges," said Lt. Jeff Purvis on Saturday morning, "so his probation has been violated. There's no bond on that."

Meanwhile, Moffitt's bond on the 79 felony counts was set by a judge at $10,000 per count, or $790,000.

An investigation by the FBI, Highlands County deputies and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement traced Moffitt through a lead about a white Ford Focus to his home, just blocks from the hospital. Police are still searching for another suspect, who may have helped Moffitt plant the envelopes.

One witness on Whiting Drive observed a white Ford Focus drive up to his mailbox at 2:30 a.m. on April 2, then stop at additional mailboxes and perform the same actions. Four residents found envelopes in their mailboxes, said the arrest record written by Det. Jared Futch.

Video at Wal-Mart in Sebring captured a white Ford Focus in the parking lot, and a male - later identified as Moffitt - in the store buying a box of 80 white envelopes and a box of Johnson's Baby Powder Cornstarch. A Wal-Mart employee later identified Moffitt as the man in the video.

Futch said after Moffitt was presented with the evidence, he admitted it was his car at Wal-Mart, that he bought the envelopes and the corn starch, and that he placed envelopes on the vehicles as an April Fool's prank.

Lessons Learned

The good news from the anthrax scare, Benton said, is that it exposed a significant weakness in emergency preparation plans. Training exercises teach emergency workers how to get patients to hospitals, how hospitals would handle mass casualty incidents and what to do if a hospital is shut down because of exposure to a nuclear, biological or chemical agent. There is little training about preventing people who find dangerous materials from bringing it into important public buildings.

"None of these envelopes were anywhere else but in mailboxes or windshields of cars," Benton said. "But yet we had to lock down a major hospital facility and a community town hall because someone brought these materials inside."

She wants to get a message across: if you find a suspicious item, assume it's dangerous. Don't touch it. Leave it where it is, and call authorities.

Benton offered her advice just hours after another envelope of suspicious white powder was found Friday in the parking lot of the community's hospital.

The discovery sparked fears that another round of contamination threats might be afoot like the hoax that paralyzed the community the day before. But the envelope appeared to be a leftover from Thursday, said Florida Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Albritton.

On Thursday, Highlands residents woke to a frenzy of local, state and federal law enforcement activity as small, white envelopes containing a mysterious white powder were found scattered around town.

Officials said there was an indication the envelopes may contain anthrax, a disease-causing and often fatal bacterium. The hospital was shut down for most of the day, as was the Sun 'n Lake town hall, until samples were tested.

Three samples, one from inside the hospital and two randomly selected from the initial samples, were tested in Tampa and were negative for multi agents, meaning the substance was not harmful to humans.

The Florida Department of Health will continue to test the remaining samples to determine what they are, spokesman Steve Huard said. The results may not come until Monday, he said.

"We have three labs throughout the state, and everybody's gotten some of the material, everybody's testing it," he said. "We won't have solid results on what the material is until after it is determined - and we are 1,000 percent sure - that we're not dealing with anything bad."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff's office at 863-402-7200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-8477.