A written plea of not guilty was entered Monday for the man charged in connection with April's anthrax scare.
Jerron Mario Moffitt, 20, is charged with 76 counts of felony hoax of a weapon of mass destruction. He remains in jail on a $760,000 bond.
Because of the new charges, Moffitt is also facing counts of violation of probation in reference to burglary of a structure and grand theft. Both stemmed from a 2006 incident, according to Highlands County Clerk of Courts records.
Local, state and federal agencies, not to mention the Sebring community at large, were kept on their toes April 2 after a nurse at Florida Hospital Heartland Division found an envelope under the windshield wiper of her vehicle at 2 a.m. Inside was a white substance and a note indicating it was anthrax.
The hospital was put on lockdown and remained that way for more than 12 hours. As the day progressed, more envelopes were found in the mailboxes of Sun 'n Lake residents and in the neighborhood east of U.S. 27 across from Sun 'n Lake.
Almost 80 total envelopes recovered, with 48 of them found on windshields at the hospital. The substance tested negative for anthrax.
Moffitt is next scheduled for a May 18 bond hearing and a June 17 pretrial conference.
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