An Illinois man was charged Monday with mailing letters containing a white substance to four unnamed members of Congress, including a senator who received the message: “HAH enjoy the gift.”
Matthew Unglesbee, 37, put his own name and home address on all four envelopes, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Illinois. He faces charges of mailing threatening communications and separate charges for false information and disseminating a hoax.
Unglesbee told FBI agents on Sunday that the substance was salt — which he said “kind of looks like” anthrax — sent in an apparent attempt to intimidate lawmakers, according to the filing.
The substance was confirmed to contain no chemical or biological toxins, lab tests revealed.
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Three letters contained handwritten notes reading “HA HA,” investigators said. The recipients, three House members and a senator, are not named in the complaint.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers in at least 36 offices nationwide have become the targets of similar suspicious letters in recent months, including Sens. Chuck Schumer, Ted Cruz, Susan Collins, Alex Padilla and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Unglesbee denied involvement in the earlier mailings reported in the news, investigators said.
Court documents say Unglesbee admitted sending his letters after overhearing someone in a restaurant discussing news reports about similar mailings earlier this month. He said the mailings were meant as a joke, but acknowledged that lawmakers would “take it serious” and would have “hazmat come in white suits,” the complaint states, quoting Unglesbee.
The FBI received an anonymous tip on Oct. 16 from someone who said they overheard Unglesbee discussing the fake attack in a conversation at a restaurant.
Agents recovered three of the letters from congressional offices in northern Illinois on Oct. 21 and a fourth on Oct. 23 before the letters were opened.
One staffer noticed that an envelope felt like it contained powder, heard something inside and called 911, which dispatched hazardous materials teams to the office.
There was no attorney listed in court documents for Unglesbee.
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