‘Walking Dead’ Guest Star Shannon Richardson Sentenced to 18 Years for Mailing Ricin to Obama

Yesterday the sentencing of Shannon Richardson, who had minor roles on TV’s ‘The Walking Dead’ and the Sandra Bullock movie ‘The Blind Side,’ took place yesterday. CBS News reports that Richardson was arrested last June for sending letters with the deadly toxin ricin to President Obama and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Richardson pled guilty last December.

Richardson reportedly mailed the letters and then went to police to claim that her estranged husband, Nathan Richardson, was responsible for mailing them. However, inconsistencies with her story, as well as an investigation into her online purchases, led to Richardson’s arrest. The investigation revealed that she had made purchases for the materials required to make ricin online. She later confessed that she lied to authorities about her husband’s involvement.

Yesterday, Richardson told the court “I never intended for anybody to be hurt. I’m not a bad person. I don’t have it in me to hurt anyone.” Regardless of her statement, the judge sentenced the 36-year-old actress from Texas, to18 years in prison on a charge of possessing and producing a biological toxin. She has also been ordered to pay $367,000 in restitution.

Oscar Pistorius Found Guilty Today

Just minutes ago Judge Thokozile Masipa found OscarPistorius guilty of “culpable homicide” after fatally shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a bathroom door on Valentine’s Day last year.

The court did, however, clear Pistorius of the more serious charge of premeditated murder, saying that the state had failed to prove such a charge. In the judge’s words: “The state clearly has not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder. There are just not enough facts to support such a finding.”

Sentencing for Pistorius is scheduled for October, at which time he could face up to 15 year in prison for culpable homicide.